Utility Emergencies
Water leaks and sewer backups on the customer's or County-owned lines are considered Utility Emergencies and should be reported immediately. Public Utilities maintains on call water & sewer staff 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can assist with determining if the problem is on the County's or customers' lines. Emergency on-call assistance is provided at no charge to the customer.
During regular business hours (weekdays, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm) contact DPU directly at (804) 966-9678. After hours (including weekends and holidays), contact the Sheriff's Office Dispatch Non-Emergency number at (804) 966-9500.
Please be aware that New Kent County Public Utilities staff can only respond to water & sewer emergencies on County-owned utility systems.
If a natural gas leak is suspected, call 911 immediately.
All New Kent County water and sewer systems are fully backed up with emergency generators. A power outage should not result in significant disruption of public utility services.
Certain events, including system pressure loss, backflows into the water system, or confirmed contamination of the water system (as examples) may lead New Kent Public Utilities to issue a "Boil Water Advisory" or even a "Do Not Drink" or "Do Not Use" notification to customers on that water system. In these instances, notification will be provided to all affected customers in the form of hand delivered flyers, instant alerts on New Kent's Notify Me Emergency Alert Center, press release to local media, as well as a recurring message on New Kent Local Access Cox Cable Channel 48.