Burst pipe, no water, sewage backup24/7
Shut the main, then call. The five things to do in the first five minutes are on the page.
Call 656-219-4999Hillsborough · Pinellas · English and Spanish
Tampa Bay plumbers, day or night
Water under the kitchen floor at 11 p.m., a water heater that died with the house full, a sewer line that backs up every time it rains: call a plumber who works your part of Hillsborough or Pinellas.
- Water main
- Meter box at the curb
- Main shutoff: the valve to know
- Your house
Plumbing services
Eight kinds of job, each with its own page. Water where it should not be goes straight to the phone; call for everything else.
Drain cleaning and clogs
Kitchen, tub, main line. Cable, jetter, or camera first: which one depends on how it clogged.
Call 656-219-4999Water heaters
Tank, tankless, heat pump. Permitted every time; a Duke rebate on the Pinellas side; hard water on both.
Call 656-219-4999Leak detection and slab leaks
A bill that jumped, a warm spot on the floor, a meter that spins with everything off.
Call 656-219-4999Repiping
Polybutylene, galvanized, cast iron. What the four-point inspection is looking at and what replaces it.
Call 656-219-4999Sewer line and camera inspection
Roots, cast iron, backups after a storm. Where the lateral ends and the city's pipe begins.
Call 656-219-4999Toilets, faucets, fixtures, disposals
The everyday call, and why rubber parts wear faster on chloraminated water.
Call 656-219-4999Backflow testing
Tampa tests residential assemblies every two years; a certified tester files it in SwiftComply.
Call 656-219-4999Need a plumber? Call 656-219-4999
What comes out of the tap
The water a Tampa Bay plumbing system runs on
Two utilities publish the numbers every year. They explain most of what a plumber finds inside a water heater or behind a toilet here.
10.8 gr
Tampa hardness
Tampa Water Department 2024 average: 185 mg/L, or 10.8 grains per gallon, from the Hillsborough River. Hard.
9.8–14.7
Pinellas grains
Pinellas County Utilities 2024: 210 ppm on average, 168 to 252, on Tampa Bay Water's blend. Hard to very hard.
NH₂Cl
Chloramine
Both utilities disinfect with monochloramine. Gentler on pipes than chlorine, harder on rubber flappers and washers; a filter must be rated for it.
0
Lead service lines found
Tampa's 2025 inventory: none found so far; lead at the tap 1.81 ppb against a 15 ppb action level. The line from the meter in is the owner's.
The numbers behind every quote
Permits still apply to plumbing
Florida changed its permit rules in 2026, and the change is the one homeowners hear about without the exception that matters here.
$7,500
The new exemption does not cover plumbing
HB 803 (effective July 1, 2026) lets single-family owners skip a permit for work under $7,500, except electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, and gas work, and anything in a flood hazard area. A water heater still needs a plumbing permit and an inspection.
CS/CS/HB 803 (2026), Ch. 2026-63$5,000
Notice of Commencement
A direct contract over $5,000 needs a Notice of Commencement recorded before the first inspection. The $15,000 exception applies to heating and air conditioning only, so a repipe or a sewer replacement over $5,000 gets one.
s. 713.135, Florida StatutesDec 31
The code edition changes
Permits applied for before December 31, 2026 are reviewed under the Florida Building Code, Plumbing, 8th Edition (2023); after that, the 9th Edition (2026). The edition in force when the permit is applied for is the one the inspector uses.
Florida Building Commission, 9th EditionWater heaters: your utility decides the rebate
Pinellas has a heat pump water heater rebate; Hillsborough does not
Hillsborough is mostly Tampa Electric and Pinellas is Duke Energy Florida; the electric bill says which one you have. The amounts are on the utilities' own pages, so the site links there instead of quoting them.
Duke Energy Florida
Pinellas: St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park
A heat pump water heater rebate for ENERGY STAR units with a uniform energy factor of 3.3 or higher, installed by a licensed and insured plumbing contractor.
A Duke Home Energy Check (Duke does not charge for it) within the previous 24 months comes first; for an emergency replacement Duke may allow the check afterward. Filed on Duke's rebate portal.
Duke heat pump water heater rebateTampa Electric
Hillsborough: Tampa, Brandon, Riverview, Carrollwood
Tampa Electric's residential program listed no water-heater rebate when this page was written (September 2026).
Check the program page before you buy; programs change between seasons. The federal 25C credit ended for equipment placed in service after December 31, 2025.
TECO residential programsFederal rule to know: electric storage water heaters over 35 gallons manufactured on or after May 6, 2029 must use heat-pump technology (DOE final rule, May 2024). A standard electric tank bought before then is still legal to install and service.
The test the city schedules
Backflow assemblies: every two years in Tampa
If the house has an irrigation system, a pool, fire sprinklers, reclaimed water, or a well alongside city water, the City of Tampa requires a backflow prevention assembly and a test by a certified tester registered in SwiftComply: residential every two years, commercial every year, results filed within seven days, a failed assembly repaired or replaced within fifteen. Pinellas County Utilities and the Pinellas cities run their own cycles.
Service areas
Eight areas with their own pages: which office permits the work, which utility the water comes from and how hard it is, what the housing era did to the pipes.
Need a plumber? Call 656-219-4999
Plumbers for both sides of the bay
Residential plumbing across Hillsborough and Pinellas: burst pipes, drains, water heaters, slab leaks, repiping, sewer lines, fixtures and backflow tests. English or Spanish, any hour.
Questions people ask before they call
Where is my main water shutoff?
Usually where the supply line enters the house: at an outside wall near a hose bib, in the garage by the water heater, or in a box in the ground near the front of the house. The meter box at the curb belongs to the utility and has its own valve; use yours first. If you cannot find it, say so on the call and the plumber will walk you to it.
Does a water heater replacement really need a permit?
Yes, in Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the Pinellas cities, including a like-for-like swap. The 2026 $7,500 exemption excludes plumbing. The plumber pulls it in their own license and the inspector checks the T&P discharge, the pan, the expansion tank where the system is closed, and the connections.
Why does my water heater rumble?
Sediment. At 10 to 15 grains of hardness, minerals settle on the bottom of a tank and boil under the burner or element. Flushing helps early; a tank that has rumbled for years is usually near the end. Tankless units need descaling on the same water.
My bill jumped and nothing is dripping. Now what?
Turn everything off and watch the meter. If the small dial moves, water is leaving the system somewhere: a toilet flapper, an irrigation valve, or a leak under the slab. A plumber isolates it with the meter test, a pressure test, and acoustic or thermal detection before anyone opens a floor.
The insurer flagged polybutylene. Do I have to repipe?
Citizens' published rule is that only dwellings 20 years old or newer with polybutylene can be eligible, and only with no leaks or unrepaired water damage; polybutylene went out of use around 1995, so in practice the answer is a repipe. Your underwriter decides; the plumber quotes the repipe and the permit it needs.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Call in English or Spanish; every page is available in both.
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