Water in the Street or Water in the Yard? Duluth Guide Separates a County Main Break from a House Leak

DULUTH, GA — When water shows in a yard or a street in Duluth, Georgia, the first question is whose leak it is: the county main or the home's own service line. Duluth Water Leak Detection Pros has published a guide to telling the two apart before calling anyone, using two tests any homeowner can run without opening anything. A county main is the county's to repair. A service line from the meter into the home is the homeowner's. The meter is the boundary between them. In April 2026, a 10-inch water main break shut down Buford Highway at Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth for more than 12 hours, closing all lanes between Sugarloaf Parkway and South Scales Road from around 5:30 a.m. and collapsing the road surface where the main failed. Nearby businesses lost water and a church campus closed early. It was not the only time: in January 2025, a water main break affected the Howell Meadow Drive area, with Gwinnett Department of Water Resources crews on site. The first test is the meter test: turn every tap off, read the meter, wait without using water, then read it again. If it moved, water is escaping through the metered supply even though nothing is running. The second test is the house shutoff test, run only if the meter moved: close the house shutoff valve. If the meter stops, the leak is inside the home; if it keeps moving, it is in the buried line outside, between the meter and the house. Signs that point to the county main include water in the street or road rather than only in the yard, a damaged road surface, neighbours losing water at the same time, and water appearing suddenly in volume. When those signs are present, the call is to Gwinnett County Water Resources, on its 24-hour emergency dispatch line at 678.376.7000. Signs that point to the homeowner's own line include a wet patch only in the yard with the street dry, a meter that moves with every tap off, a greener strip along the buried line's path, low pressure only at one home, and a bill that has been rising before the water appeared. A main break does not raise a homeowner's bill, because the water is not passing through the meter; a service-line leak does. When the tests point to the homeowner's side, a detection visit runs the same two tests, then narrows the buried section with acoustic and pressure checks and marks the point. Detection cannot repair a county main and cannot open a street, and it cannot find a leak that is not passing through the meter. About Duluth Water Leak Detection Pros: a water leak detection service in Duluth, Georgia, offering slab, underground, water line, wall, ceiling, and non-invasive leak detection for residential and commercial properties. Open 24 hours with emergency services. Website: https://waterleakdetectionduluthga.com/ — Phone: (770) 214-4798. Contact: Duluth Water Leak Detection Pros, Duluth, GA 30096, info@waterleakdetectionduluthga.com, (770) 214-4798, https://waterleakdetectionduluthga.com/