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
A local plumber for your side of the bay.
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 and get connected with an independent local plumbing contractor who works your part of Hillsborough or Pinellas.
- Water main
- Meter box at the curb
- Main shutoff: the valve to know
- Your house
What people call about
Eight kinds of call, each with its own page. Water where it should not be goes straight to the phone; everything else can start with the form.
Drain cleaning and clogs
Kitchen, tub, main line. Cable, jetter, or camera first: which one depends on how it clogged.
Read moreWater heaters
Tank, tankless, heat pump. Permitted every time; a Duke rebate on the Pinellas side; hard water on both.
Read moreLeak detection and slab leaks
A bill that jumped, a warm spot on the floor, a meter that spins with everything off.
Read moreRepiping
Polybutylene, galvanized, cast iron. What the four-point inspection is looking at and what replaces it.
Read moreSewer line and camera inspection
Roots, cast iron, backups after a storm. Where the lateral ends and the city's pipe begins.
Read moreToilets, faucets, fixtures, disposals
The everyday call, and why rubber parts wear faster on chloraminated water.
Read moreBackflow testing
Tampa tests residential assemblies every two years; a certified tester files it in SwiftComply.
Read moreWhat 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.
Three 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.
How the line works
Call or send the form
Say what the water is doing and where you are. A call connects you to the contractor directly; the form gets you a call back.
A local contractor takes it
An independent plumbing contractor who serves your part of Hillsborough or Pinellas calls you to schedule. Ask for the license number; check it on DBPR.
You deal with them directly
Diagnosis, written quote, permit if the job needs one, the work, and the warranty are between you and the contractor.
Tampa Bay Plumbing Hotline connects homeowners with independent local plumbing contractors. We are not a plumbing contractor. Service availability, pricing, and timing are determined by the contractor.
Where the calls go
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.
About the line
Tampa Bay Plumbing Hotline is a bilingual referral line. We pass your call or your form to an independent local plumbing contractor who serves your area. We are not a plumbing contractor, we do not set prices, and we do not pull permits; the contractor does, in their own license.
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 contractor 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 contractor 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.
How do I know the plumber is licensed?
Plumbing is a state-licensed trade. Ask for the Florida license number: a certified plumbing contractor's begins with CFC and is valid statewide; a registered one's begins with RF and is valid only in the county that issued the competency card. Check it at MyFloridaLicense.com; in Pinellas the PCCLB has its own search.
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 contractor quotes the repipe and the permit it needs.
Do you charge for the referral?
Not to you. The contractor or a routing network may pay us a referral fee. You pay the contractor for the work, at the price the two of you agree on.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. The site and the line work in English and Spanish; every page, and the phone line, is available in both.
Get a plumber on the phone
Calls are answered around the clock. The form is for anything that can wait until the contractor calls you back.
Hours: Calls answered 24/7, every day
Tampa Bay Plumbing Hotline connects homeowners with independent local plumbing contractors. We are not a plumbing contractor. Service availability, pricing, and timing are determined by the contractor.