Plumber in Pomona, CA: City-Run Water and Sewer, Hard Groundwater and Homes From the 1960s

The City of Pomona Water Resources Department is the retail supplier, and its customer line is (909) 620-2251. The report titled 2024, covering 2023 test results, puts the supply at about 80 percent local groundwater, 14 percent imported water and 6 percent local surface water. It lists groundwater hardness at an average of 260 mg/L as calcium carbonate, spanning 160 to 360, and sodium at an average of 23 mg/L. On the USGS scale anything above 180 mg/L counts as very hard. The city also lists a 2025 report that we could not open, so check it for current figures.

Scale at that level coats the heating element of an electric tank and the bottom of a gas tank, and it shortens the life of both. Softeners go unmentioned in the report, which leaves that choice to the household. For a replacement or a first install, see tank water heater replacement, and ask about the anode rod and a yearly flush.

Census data put Pomona's median year built at 1967. By our reckoning roughly 41 percent of homes were built before 1960 and about 66 percent before 1980, so a large share of the drain lines in town are at least half a century old. Owners occupy about 54 percent of homes and renters the other 46, which matters when you are deciding who calls the plumber.

A slow main drain, a toilet that gurgles when the washer runs or a floor drain that backs up usually points to the same line. A plumber can run a camera through a cleanout to see whether the problem is grease, roots or a belly in the pipe. If the line is simply blocked, see snaking and hydro jetting.

The city's Wastewater Operations Division, part of Water Resources, runs the collection system. The Pomona Water Reclamation Plant operates under the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts. City Code section 62-399(g) makes property owners responsible for their house connections to the sewer line. The city's risk management page says it takes responsibility only in the rare case where a city tree's roots broke or misaligned a lateral.

For a sewer main backup, the city's frequently called numbers list 909-620-2251, and its general water and sewer line is 909-620-2241. We did not find an after-hours sewer number on city pages. See sewer line replacement for the plumber's side of a lateral problem.

The Building and Safety Division is at 505 S. Garey Avenue, and its phone is (909) 620-2371. The city's plumbing permit document, dated 11/2024, lists as a permit item any new, replacement, relocated or altered water heater. It exempts same-location fixture replacement and stopping leaks or clearing stoppages, as long as no valves, pipes or traps are replaced or rearranged. Earlier versions of the same handout treat replacing a defective drain, trap or vent pipe as new work, so a repipe or a large drain replacement should be checked with the division.

The document does not say who may pull a permit. Contractors working in Pomona file under the state contractor license rules, and the state's owner-builder exemption has conditions, so the division can tell you what applies to your property. Our sources give only the inspectors' counter hours, so call before you go.

The city's Housing Element describes a corridor plan along Garey Avenue, Holt Avenue, Mission Boulevard and Foothill Boulevard. It also names the Lincoln Park Historic District, Downtown Pomona and the master-planned Phillips Ranch community, which has its own specific plan. Our dispatch recognizes those names, and the list below pairs them with specific places.

The same document marks a few hillside and wildland edge areas, including Phillips Ranch, in its landslide language. We found no Pomona source about the foundation types in those areas, so a plumber should identify a slab or raised foundation on site; for a suspected leak under a floor, see leak location services.

A burst supply line that floods a room is a plumbing call first and a drying job second, see mold testing after a leak. A tank that no longer makes hot water may be worth fixing, see no hot water repair. A household with high hot-water demand and little floor space should look at tankless descaling and repair. Pinholes and green stains on old copper are covered at replacing old pipes.

The same dispatch also covers shower valve and fixture repair, jammed disposal help, gas line service, water softener service, a leak under the floor and main water line repair. Night and weekend calls follow the process in the after-hours dispatch information.