Plumbers in Norco, CA

Horsetown USA, next door to Riverside

Norco is a Riverside County city about 9 miles from central Riverside in a straight line, along Interstate 15. It incorporated in 1964, became a charter city in 2003, and had 26,316 residents in 2020. Nicknamed "Horsetown USA," it keeps a semi-rural feel: corrals and ranches, riding trails used in place of most sidewalks, ordinances that protect animal-keeping and a Western architectural theme. Norco College, the Norco Hills, the Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Norco Fair are local landmarks.

Plumbing on animal-keeping lots

Large lots change the plumbing picture. Water service lines can run a long way from the meter to the house, and many properties have extra lines feeding barns, troughs, wash racks and hose bibs out by the corrals. Those runs are exposed to hooves, tractors and the occasional frost, and a leak in a long buried line can take some tracking down. Keeping outdoor shutoffs accessible and labeled makes any repair faster.

City water and sewer

Norco's Water Utility, part of Public Works, serves about 26,000 people through roughly 7,500 connections. Most of the supply is purchased treated groundwater, largely from the Arlington Desalter, along with the Chino Desalter, the City of Riverside and Jurupa Community Services District, blended with the city's own Chino subbasin wells in southwest Norco and a small amount of treated surface water from Corona. Norco disinfects with chlorine, not chloramine.

Hardness swings with the source: the city's water quality report lists 54 to 290 mg/L as calcium carbonate, averaging about 132 mg/L. That is moderate on some days and hard on others, enough to justify flushing water heaters and checking aerators. For billing or service questions, the Utilities Division is (951) 270-5654. The city's Public Works Sewer Division maintains the sewer system.

Permits and gas

Norco Building & Safety issues plumbing and water heater permits from City Hall at 2870 Clark Ave; the main line is (951) 735-3900. SoCalGas provides natural gas. If you notice a gas odor, get out of the house first, then call 911 and SoCalGas at 1-800-427-2200 from outside.

How Norco differs from Riverside, and what to expect

Norco actually buys part of its water from the City of Riverside, but the service, billing, sewer and permits are all Norco's own. The bigger difference is the land: long service lines and outbuilding plumbing are far more common than on a typical Riverside lot. Call the number on this page, describe what is wrong and where on the property it is, and you will be connected with an independent plumber who works in Norco. Price and scheduling are agreed directly with that plumber.