Plumbing for Santa Barbara and the South Coast

Why plumbing wears the way it does here

Santa Barbara sits on a rare south-facing stretch of coast between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific, the county seat of Santa Barbara County, with 88,665 residents in the 2020 census (Wikipedia: Santa Barbara, California). Many homes near downtown, on the Westside, the Eastside and the Riviera date from the decades after the 1925 earthquake forced the rebuilding of the historic center (Wikipedia: 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake). Homes of that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipes, which corrode and narrow from the inside, and clay or cast-iron sewer laterals that crack, sag or let roots in.

Hillside neighborhoods add their own issues: long sewer laterals running downhill to the street, higher water pressure at the bottom of a hill, and pipes that move a little with the ground over the decades.

The most common calls follow from that: slow or backed-up drains, a sewer line full of roots, a water heater at the end of its life, a pinhole leak in old copper or a corroded galvanized line, and a running toilet quietly wasting water.

Drought makes every leak count

The South Coast depends heavily on local reservoirs. During the 2011–17 drought, Cachuma Lake on the Santa Ynez River fell to about 7.3 percent of capacity in October 2016 before winter rains refilled it (Wikipedia: Cachuma Lake). The City of Santa Barbara's Water Resources division publishes conservation programs and water-use information (City of Santa Barbara, Water Resources), and nearby communities are served by their own districts, including Goleta Water District, Montecito Water District and Carpinteria Valley Water District (Goleta Water District; Montecito Water District; Carpinteria Valley Water District).

The EPA's WaterSense program notes that household leaks can waste large amounts of water each year, and that common culprits are running toilets, dripping faucets and leaking valves (U.S. EPA WaterSense, Fix a Leak Week). Fixing them is often the fastest water saving a household can make. See leak detection and the drought guide.

Getting ready to send the form

1. Note the town or ZIP and roughly when the house was built.
2. Describe the symptom: which drains, which fixture, how often, since when.
3. Check the water heater label for its age if it is part of the problem.
4. Look for clues: water stains, warm spots on the floor, the meter spinning with everything off.
5. Mention anything recent: a remodel, a tree planted near the sewer line, a new water bill spike.

Those details make the call back useful. The estimate-factors page explains what each of them changes.

About this site

SantaBarbaraPlumbingCompany.com publishes plumbing information for Santa Barbara and nearby communities and takes free estimate requests through a short form. Water, code and safety facts link to the public sources they come from, including the City of Santa Barbara, the County of Santa Barbara, local water districts, the California Contractors State License Board, DigAlert, the California Legislature, the EPA and the National Weather Service. The site lists no prices, street address or review badges. See about this site.