Feb 17, 2026
When a water main ruptures under a city street, the resulting geyser often feels like a communal problem — unless the water settles on your private property. At that moment, what was a public infrastructure failure quickly transforms into a private financial burden.
This harsh financial reality recently hit Mike Drzewiecki, the owner of the Ashland Corner Shopping Center in Baltimore (1).
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Following a water main break in July, Drzewiecki watched as massive amounts of water rushed onto his property. The overflow flooded a detention pond that he is legally required to maintain for stormwater management. The resulting erosion and debris required immediate remediation to keep the site in compliance with local regulations.
any residents and business owners assume the government will pay for cleanup after a water main break, but that’s rarely the case. In cities like Baltimore, reimbursement is often denied unless officials were warned about a specific problem before the pipe failed.
Here’s what residents and business owners need to know about their responsibilities when a water main breaks, and how to protect their property.
The unexpected price of a water main break
The cleanup was a big job, and a big expense. Drzewiecki reported spending approximately $8,600 out of his own pocket to stabilize the pond and repair the damage.
The cost felt like it was adding insult to injury because he had recently spent a bunch of money on the facility to bring it up to code. The water main failure essentially erased that previous work, forcing him to pay a second time for the same level of property compliance.
When Drzewiecki filed a claim for reimbursement, Baltimore City denied it. The city’s reasoning was straightforward: they had no record of recent reports or complaints that would have indicated a defect in that specific section of the pipe before it burst.
Without 311 calls or other public warnings on file, the city argued it could not be held responsible for a sudden and unforeseen failure. While the Department of Public Works responded to the scene to stop the flow and ensure safety, they drew a firm line at paying for the downstream damage on private land.
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What are your rights as a property holder?
This denial is not just a bureaucratic hurdle. Maryland law states that municipalities are generally not viewed as insurers of their public works systems (2).
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To win a negligence claim against a city for a water main break, a property owner usually must prove that the government had actual or constructive notice of the specific defect that caused the loss. Simply knowing that the overall water system is old or prone to leaks is rarely enough to establish liability in court.
A key example of this standard is the 2018 case of Colbert v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (3). In that instance, the court upheld a judgment in favor of the city because the plaintiff could not show that officials knew of a problem with the specific buried pipe before it ruptured.
Because underground pipes are not visible, defects are often impossible to detect until a failure occurs. This creates a difficult situation for property owners who are left to prove that the city should have known about a problem that was buried several feet underground.
How to protect your property from infrastructure failure
As the nation’s infrastructure continues to age, these incidents are becoming more frequent.
National reports from organizations like the American Society of Civil Engineers often highlight the strain on drinking water systems, many of which are reaching the end of their intended lifespans. Since total system replacement is a multi-billion dollar task that will take decades, the risk of sudden breaks remains a permanent fixture of property ownership (5).
To manage this risk, buyers and current owners should take a proactive approach to due diligence.
Many local departments of public work provide interactive maps that show the history of confirmed main breaks and the status of current repairs. Checking these maps can reveal if a property is located near a high-risk corridor.
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Despite the risk, insurance for water and sewer problems is rare
Sewer and water line insurance is surprisingly rare, with only about 8% of policyholders opting for it. Many standard policies cover sudden and accidental water discharge, but they may have exclusions for external service line failures or specific types of flooding.
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According to Nationwide, approximately 32% of homeowners incorrectly believe their standard policy covers these lines. In reality, most base policies exclude underground pipes, leaving homeowners vulnerable to repair costs that often range from $3,000 to over $10,000 (6).
Beyond insurance riders, over 7 million Americans use third-party warranties, though consumer advocacy groups argue these plans have dubious value (7).
Nevertheless, the trend toward specialized coverage is growing as U.S. infrastructure ages. Homeowners with older properties or large trees are the most frequent adopters of these specific protections.
Drzewiecki’s situation highlights how responsibility can fall through the cracks. Even though county officials acknowledged plans to replace the line and the city owns the water system, he’s unlikely to be reimbursed. In most cases, the city only pays to fix the broken pipe and nearby public areas, leaving property owners responsible for damage on their own land.
The bottom line is that when a water main fails, reimbursement is far from automatic. Treating infrastructure failure as an insurable and documentable personal risk is the most practical way to avoid being caught off guard by a four-figure cleanup bill.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
CBS News (1); FindLaw (2); MarylandCourts.gov (3); VMAR2 News (4); Environmental Protection Agency (5); Nationwide (6); Consumers’ Checkbook (7)
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Will Kenton is a personal finance writer with a Master's degree in Economics who has been published in Investopedia, AP News, TIME Stamped and Business Insider among other publications.
