Two utilities, two phone numbers
Most cities have one public agency for water and sewer. York has two private companies.
- Water comes from The York Water Company, an investor-owned utility that serves York and parts of Adams, Franklin and Lancaster counties. It publishes its tariffs and rate decisions, and it is the number to call for a water main break, low pressure across the street, discoloured water or a problem at the curb stop.
- The city’s wastewater collection system is run by Pennsylvania American Water, which has been relining sewer mains across the city in recent years. Sewage overflowing from a manhole or backing up from the street side is its problem to report.
Your bills show the right contact for each. A plumber handles anything on your side of the property: the pipes inside the house, the water service line on your property, and the sewer lateral.
What city code says about lateral repairs
York’s codified ordinances make the person using a sewer lateral responsible for the cost of emergency repairs to it, even when the City or a utility company carries out the work. In practice that means a collapsed or blocked lateral is a cost you should expect to bear, whoever ends up digging.
It is one more reason to know the condition of your lateral before it fails. A sewer camera inspection shows roots, cracks and separated joints while there is still time to plan a repair rather than react to a backup. When the footage shows trouble, sewer line repair explains the options, and trenchless sewer repair covers lining a line that runs under a sidewalk or front steps.
The housing: old, attached and mostly rented
York’s housing is among the oldest in the region. Census estimates put the median home at 1941, with roughly half built in 1939 or earlier and seven in ten before 1960. About four in ten homes are rowhomes or townhouses, and well over half are rented.
What that means for plumbing:
- Laterals under the sidewalk. Rowhomes usually have their own lateral running from the front basement wall to the street. Clay and cast iron of that age fail at joints, and roots from street trees find them.
- Cast iron stacks and drains that scale up inside, slowing every fixture on every floor; drain cleaning explains when cleaning helps and when the pipe is the problem.
- Galvanized supply pipe in some houses, which narrows until pressure fades. See water line replacement.
- Shared walls, separate systems. A neighbour’s problem rarely becomes yours through the plumbing, but work on a lateral can mean coordinating sidewalk access.
If you rent, report leaks and backups to your landlord in writing first. If you own a rental, a tenant’s first mention of a slow floor drain is worth acting on.
York winters are colder
The nearest NOAA station with temperature normals, a few miles from the city, records roughly 120 nights a year at or below freezing, more than Harrisburg, along with an average winter low near 24°F. It is also one of the wetter stations in the region, with about 46 inches of precipitation a year.
That combination tests old houses twice: pipes on exterior walls and in unheated basements freeze in January, and basements take on water in spring. For freezes, see burst and frozen pipe repair; for wet basements, sump pump repair, keeping in mind that the pump should discharge outside rather than into the sewer.
Before anyone digs on a York street
Lateral and water line repairs in the city often mean opening a sidewalk and sometimes part of the street. Three things to settle first:
- PA One Call (811). The contractor must place a request at least three business days before excavation so gas, electric and communication lines are marked.
- Who restores the surface. Agree in writing whether the price includes rebuilding the sidewalk or patching the street to the City’s standard.
- The utilities’ part. If the work touches the water service at the curb or the sewer main connection, the contractor may need to coordinate with The York Water Company or the wastewater operator.
Calls that are worth making early
- Rumbling or rusty water from the water heater: tanks in tight rowhome basements are hard to replace in a hurry. Water heater repair covers the warning signs.
- A water bill that keeps climbing with nothing wet to see: run the meter test in leak detection.
- Gurgling toilets when the washer drains: often an early sign of a lateral restriction.
Local contacts
Water: The York Water Company. City wastewater collection: Pennsylvania American Water. City code on laterals and permits: City of York. Sources are linked below.
York plumbing questions
Who supplies water in York?
The York Water Company, an investor-owned utility serving York and parts of neighbouring counties.
Who runs the sewer system in the city?
Pennsylvania American Water runs the City of York’s wastewater collection system.
Who pays if my lateral fails and the city fixes it?
City code charges emergency lateral repairs carried out by the City or a utility to the lateral user.
Why do York pipes freeze more than Harrisburg’s?
York’s nearest climate station records more freezing nights a year, and much of the housing is old and attached, with pipes along exterior walls.
Do York plumbing jobs need a city permit?
Many do, especially work on the sewer lateral, the water service line or a water heater replacement. Ask the plumber to confirm with the City and pull the permit before starting; how calls work lists the other questions worth asking.