Who deals with a frozen pipe or meter?

On WSSC Water frozen pipes, ownership decides the first move: a frozen outside meter is the utility’s, while pipes inside and any inside meter are yours to protect, and a leak gets the house valve first.

By the Your Water Numbers desk, not WSSC Water · Updated November 2, 2026 · How we check

Is a frozen meter your problem or the utility’s?

An outside meter is the utility’s. An inside meter is yours to protect from damage and freezing, per the service line rules.

This matters when you pick up the phone. Report a frozen outside meter using the emergency number, which your bill lists. Do not try to work on it. Everything from the property line in is yours, as who owns which pipe sets out.

What comes first, the leak or the thaw?

The leak. A frozen stretch can hide a split that only runs once the ice goes, so know your valve before you do anything else.

• Find the main valve inside your property. With an inside meter, look close to the meter.
• If water is running or dripping where it should not, close that house valve.
• Use the house valve only. Street-side valves stay with the utility.
• Never thaw a pipe with an open flame.
• If you are in doubt about any of it, get a licensed plumber.

What does a leak add to the bill?

$1,291.28 for a 500 gal/day leak on a 145 gal/day house, if it runs for all of a 90-day bill. Those figures are our arithmetic from FY27 rates. The meter counts it, leak or not, and the owner pays for what it counts.

Reading this: Rates step up with use, so the cost per gallon climbs as the leak grows. Real bills differ by a few dollars, and what a leak costs has smaller sizes.

How do you check for a hidden leak after a freeze?

Use the meter, with no water running anywhere in the house. A reading that holds steady is a good sign, and why the bill jumped gives the full test and its timing. Do not open or work on an outside meter box. If you can’t read the meter without opening it, ask WSSC Water.

EPA gives one rough flag: a family of four using more than 12,000 gallons a month in winter probably has a leak.

How cold does it have to get?

We have no threshold for a house pipe, so we won’t print one. The closest series covers the river and the mains: breaks on the mains usually rise a few days after a new river low.

Cold spells also bring notices. January 2026 brought an essential-use request to all customers, so check for a notice if your neighbors lose pressure too.

Can the bill or the repair be reduced?

Sometimes. Two programs apply, each with limits.

The unexplained-high-bill adjustment is a one-time option for single-unit homes, and that page has its test.

Income-limited households can use the Customer Assistance Program, which includes a free annual plumbing leak investigation and has a separate repair fund.

Questions on this page

Where each number comes from