Water Main Repair in Queens

Water Main Repair in Queens, From the City Main to Your Meter

The water line from the main in the street to the meter in your building is the owner’s to maintain, in Queens as everywhere in the city. When it leaks, we find the leak first, then repair the section or relay the whole service in copper.

Queens Water Main Repair and Replacement

Lady Liberty crew and Case backhoe working in a residential street on a water main replacement, with cones and a saw cut
Two crew members excavating beside a brick stoop to replace a water service line, with the soil on a tarp

Longer Runs, Older Lines

Detached and semi-detached Queens houses usually sit back from the street, so the water service runs further: under the sidewalk, then a front yard or a driveway, before it reaches the meter. A house built before 1961 may still have a lead or galvanized line.

On a full relay we bring new copper from the city main to the meter, with a new curb valve, and restore the street, the sidewalk and the yard.

Signs Your Water Line Is Leaking

  • Water at the curb or sidewalk that does not dry after a few days without rain
  • Low pressure through the whole building
  • A water bill that jumped for no reason
  • A hiss under the sidewalk
  • Cloudy or rusty water
  • A leaking curb valve

Whose Line Is It, and What a DEP Notice Means

The water service from the city main to your meter belongs to the property owner, including the tap on the main and the curb valve under the sidewalk. When DEP finds a leak on it, the owner gets a 3-Day or 10-Day Notice, and the clock starts on the date printed on the paper. See DEP notices and compliance.

Repair or Relay?

A repair is usually enough when

  • There is a single leak on a copper line in otherwise good condition
  • Pressure is normal everywhere except near the leak
  • The line has not failed before

Relay the whole line when

  • The pipe is lead or galvanized: patching it leaves the rest in the ground
  • Leaks keep coming back after repairs
  • Pressure is low throughout the building, or the water runs brown
  • The building needs a larger service

More on NYC water main repair and NYC water line replacement.

Lead Service Lines

New York City stopped allowing lead service lines in 1961, so a building older than that may still have one. If yours does, we replace it in full, in copper, from the city main to the meter, with a new no-lead brass curb valve. Replacing half a lead line leaves the other half in the ground.

How a Queens Water Main Job Runs

  1. Locate the leak. Before anything is dug, so the excavation goes where the problem is.
  2. Permits and mark-out. We file with DEP, pull the DOT street-opening permit, and call in the utility mark-out.
  3. Open the street or sidewalk. Where the service crosses a yard or a driveway, that ground is part of the plan and part of the restoration.
  4. Repair or relay. Type K copper and no-lead brass fittings, tapped to the city main where a new connection is needed, under the licence of Master Plumber #2389.
  5. Pressure test and inspect. Before anything is backfilled.
  6. Restore. Backfill, then the sidewalk, curb, street or yard put back.

The digging is the quick part. The permits set the calendar.

From Recent Water Main Jobs, in Our Customers' Words

Our customers took these photos on recent water main jobs in New York City and posted them with their Google reviews.

New concrete sidewalk panel poured around a curb box cover after a water service relay
Customer photo. The sidewalk restored after a water service relay.
Case backhoe and crew opening the roadway to install a new water pipe to a house
Customer photo. Opening the street to install a new water pipe into the house.
Crew member setting a valve box at the curb during a water service relay
Customer photo. Setting the valve box at the curb on a water service relay.
Hand-dug excavation beside a brick house for a water service line, soil piled on a tarp
Customer photo. Excavating beside the house for the new water line.

“The Lady Liberty crew came on time with lots of excavation equipment, explained their work plan to me and cautiously worked throughout the day to complete the installation of the new water pipe into my house. Hard working crew, left the street and sidewalk repaired and clean as was before.”

Nick K., Google review

“The crew worked hard and multiple holes were dug up. My water main pipe was replaced in one day with minimal damages to my driveway pavers. They cleaned up after they were done.”

Inna G., Google review

Read all our Google reviews

Where We Do Water Main Work in Queens

We work across Queens: Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, East Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, South Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Fresh Meadows, Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Oakland Gardens, Jamaica, Jamaica Estates, Hollis, Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Far Rockaway, Arverne, Rockaway Beach, Breezy Point.

We also work in Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx and Manhattan.

Queens Water Main FAQs

Who is responsible for the water line to a Queens building?

The owner, from the tap on the city main, through the curb valve under the sidewalk, to the meter in the building. DEP maintains the main in the street.

How do I know the leak is on my side?

If DEP has sent a 3-Day or 10-Day Notice, it has found a leak on the owner's side. Without a notice, a wet patch at the curb that does not dry, low pressure and a jump in the bill all point to the service line. We locate the leak before anything is dug.

Can you help with a DEP 3-Day or 10-Day Notice?

Yes. We find the leak the notice is about, file the permits and make the repair. See NYC DEP notices and compliance for how the notices work.

My street was just repaved. Can you still open it?

Sometimes. The city treats recently resurfaced streets as protected: opening one needs DOT approval, comes with stricter restoration rules, and some work has to wait. We check a street's status before we quote, so you know before anything is scheduled.

Our house sits far back from the street. Does that change the job?

It changes the length of the line, which is one of the main factors in the quote. We look at the whole route, street, sidewalk, yard and driveway, before we price it, and restore everything we open.

Do you work in all of Queens?

Yes, from Astoria and Long Island City to Bayside, Jamaica, Howard Beach and the Rockaways.

Water main trouble in Queens? Call (718) 965-3500. A person answers, 24/7/365.

Sewer trouble instead? See sewer repair in Queens.

Emergency Sewer and Water Main Service, 24/7

A burst service line in Astoria or a sewer backup in Bayside does not wait for business hours. A person answers the phone at any hour, and a licensed crew is dispatched across Queens for emergency water main and sewer repair, 24/7.

Call (718) 965-3500 Message Us