Localities Prohibited From Requiring Connection With or Use of Water Supplied by a Public Water System Except When Other Water Unfit; Charges or Fees for Services Made Available but Not Used Prohibited; Applicability

1. Law
2. Georgia Code
3. Local Government
4. General Provisions
5. Localities Prohibited From Requiring Connection With or Use of Water Supplied by a Public Water System Except When Other Water Unfit; Charges or Fees for Services Made Available but Not Used Prohibited; Applicability

1. No county, municipality, or local authority shall require a single-family residential property owner or farm served by a private well to connect with or use water supplied by a public water system, except where necessary to preclude the use of water obtained from such private well that is demonstrably unfit for human consumption or other intended use; nor shall it require such single-family residential property owner or farm whose water lines are not connected with such public water system to pay any charge or fee for water supply services made available but not used.
2. Nothing in subsection (a) of this Code section shall preclude the repair or maintenance of a well serving a single-family residence so as to meet the requirements for allowing continued use of the same by a single-family residential property owner or farm without connecting to a public water system or payment of charges or fees in accordance with subsection (a) of this Code section. Such repairs shall be the sole responsibility of such owner.
3. Subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section shall not apply to:
   1. Any public water system having more than a total of 70,000 active service connection accounts or more than 200 such accounts per square mile of total area served;
   2. A public water system with respect to a single-family residential property owner or farm who has been mailed written notice to his or her address of record on the property tax rolls by the appropriate county, municipality, or local authority by certified mail of his or her right to opt out of connecting with such system and paying charges or fees for system services made available but not used, if such property owner did not notify the county, municipality, or local authority in writing on a form provided thereby of his or her decision to exercise that option within 45 days after mailing of such notice by the county, municipality, or local authority;
   3. Any project of a public water system for which revenue bonds have been validated, issued, and sold prior to January 1, 2008; or
   4. Any public water system funded primarily through a federal or state grant that contains stipulations in such grant requiring the county, municipality, or local authority to levy a charge or fee for water supply services made available but not used. For all state grants, loans, or contracts for services issued on and after July 1, 2007, no state grant, loan, or contract for services funding any project of a public water system shall contain any stipulations requiring a county, municipality, or local authority to levy a charge or fee for water supply services made available but not used or requiring a county, municipality, or local authority to require single-family property owners or farms to connect with or use water supplied by a public water system, except where necessary to preclude the use of water obtained from another source that is demonstrably unfit for human consumption or other intended use. For the purposes of this paragraph, a federal grant is defined as money provided directly to a county or municipality. Federal money provided to a revolving loan fund or to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority or such other mechanism shall not be considered a federal grant.

(Code 1981, §36-60-17.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 737, § 2/HB 247; Ga. L. 2010, p. 949, § 1/HB 244.)

Law reviews.

- For survey article on local government law, see 59 Mercer L. Rev. 285 (2007) and 60 Mercer L. Rev. 263 (2008).

Download our app to see the most-to-date content.