Emergency Plumbing Help in Marietta, Georgia

Marietta is one of the few metro cities with its own full utility: Marietta Power and Water, governed by the city's Board of Lights and Waterworks. That changes who you call and even what a shutoff costs, so it pays to know whether your address is a city or county water customer.

Who to call, and for what

What breaks in Marietta houses

Census puts Marietta's median home at 1986 with only 7.9 percent built since 2010, so the typical emergency here happens in 30-to-50-year-old plumbing: original water heaters on borrowed time, polybutylene-era supply in some subdivisions, and mature trees finding sewer joints. (Median build year 1986, 2.0% built before 1940, 7.9% since 2010; Census ACS 2019 to 2023.)

Freeze risk, the honest version

• By NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson station averages 35.7 nights a year at or below 32 degrees, with the first freeze typically around November 20 and the last around March 15.
• Georgia EPD tells homeowners to be alert for pipe freezes whenever outdoor temperatures threaten the 20 to 30 degree range, because homes here are built for occasional cold, not constant cold.
• The December 2022 freeze is the local benchmark: Atlanta bottomed at 8 degrees on December 24 and stayed below freezing all day, and metro water systems reported frozen pipes, main breaks and boil water advisories in the days after.

When a hard freeze is coming: slow drip on faucets with exposed pipes, cabinet doors open, heat steady, hoses off. The frozen pipes guide has the full prevention and thawing list.

Worth knowing locally

• Marietta puts the sewer lateral on the owner even under the street: the city FAQ says it is the property owner's responsibility to remove a blockage even if it sits within a road right-of-way or sewer easement, though the utility will step in under specific conditions once a licensed plumber has tried.
• A utility shutoff visit has a price: $25 during working hours and $65 after hours, per the city's own FAQ, which is a good argument for knowing your own main valve.
• Marietta Water's 2025 water quality report states that a completed inventory found no lead service lines in its system.

Permits, before the big repair

Marietta's plumbing permit page is explicit: a plumbing permit is required for all work done on a plumbing system, and it names water heaters in the list.

City of Marietta Building Inspection Division
205 Lawrence Street, Marietta, GA 30060
770-794-5659

Any plumber you hire should carry a Georgia license; check it free on the Secretary of State's license search.

ZIP codes we map to Marietta

30060, 30062, 30064, 30066, 30067, 30068, 30090, 30008. ZIP boundaries don't follow city limits exactly, so a ZIP can span more than one city; mapping from the Census Bureau's 2020 ZCTA-to-place file.

Nearby pages

• Atlanta
• Sandy Springs
• Decatur
• Dunwoody
• Alpharetta
• Roswell
• Smyrna
• Kennesaw
• Lawrenceville
• Duluth