Plumbing in Poway, From the Meter In

Poway is its own city, and it runs its own water and sewer service. The City treats the water at its own plant, stores it in its own reservoirs, and owns the water meter at your property, which sits in a public utility easement. Everything on the house side of that meter is yours, and that’s the part we work on.

On a typical Poway call, that means a water heater, a leak behind a wall, a gas line, a worn regulator or main valve, a hose bib, or one of the fixtures inside. If you’re on one of Poway’s larger or horse-zoned lots, our post on plumbing for Poway’s larger lots covers the long outdoor runs and outbuildings those properties come with.

Brown or Cloudy Water? First Work Out Whose It Is

Poway residents have reason to pay attention to water color. In late November 2019, people across the city noticed discolored tap water. The cause turned out to be at the treatment plant, where storm runoff got into the clearwell reservoir through a faulty valve door, and the City issued a precautionary boil water advisory while it fixed the problem. The City has since been replacing that aging clearwell.

Most discolored water has a much smaller cause, though, and a few minutes at your own taps will usually tell you where to call:

• Only the hot water looks rusty or smells off. The problem is usually inside your water heater: sediment, a worn anode rod, or a tank near the end of its life. That’s ours to look at. See our water heater installation page for what replacement involves.
• Hot and cold are both discolored at every tap, and the neighbors say theirs is too. That points to the City’s side of the meter, often after a main break or hydrant work. Call City of Poway Customer Services at 858-668-4401 before calling a plumber.
• Only one faucet is affected. Look at that fixture first. A clogged aerator or a corroded supply line under the sink is a quick fix.
• It clears after the water runs for a while, but comes back every morning. Water that sits overnight in old steel pipe picks up rust. That’s a sign the house’s own supply lines are wearing out, and a repipe may be on the horizon.

Whenever the City issues a boil water advisory or lifts one, follow the instructions it gives for flushing your lines. Many utilities tell residents to run every cold tap for at least five minutes once an advisory ends, and to throw out the first batch of ice from the ice maker.

Keep the Meter Box Clear

Since the meter belongs to the City, Poway asks residents to keep it reachable. That means no parking over it, no walls, fences or gates built around it without a City encroachment permit, and landscaping kept back from the box. If plants get in the way, the City can clear them without notice. A clear meter box helps you too: the main shutoff for your house is usually close by, and when a pipe bursts, you don’t want to be digging through ivy to find it.

Poway Permits Come From Poway

Because Poway is its own city, plumbing permits and inspections go through Poway’s Development Services Department, not the City of San Diego. Poway’s fee schedule lists a separate permit for water heaters, and the City publishes its own water heater strapping requirements. If you’ve read about San Diego’s permit rules elsewhere, check Poway’s before you assume they match.

We cover Poway along with Rancho Bernardo, 4S Ranch, Scripps Ranch and the rest of inland North San Diego. Clogged drains are the one thing we send elsewhere, to Drain Mob. For anything else, call (858) 567-0544 on a weekday between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, or send a note from our Contact Us page. Courtesy Plumbing opened in 2007 and holds California license #910268.