La Habra Emergency Plumber, Day or Night

What to know about plumbing in La Habra

The city takes its name from Rancho Canada de La Habra, a 6,698-acre grant made in 1839; the name means the pass through the hills. The community adopted it in 1896, when the corner store began handling the town's mail, and the Milhous family, grandparents of President Nixon, were among its early settlers. The Pacific Electric line reached town in 1908, Standard Oil opened the Coyote Hills oil district in 1912, and the West Coyote field went on producing until 1996, about 250 million barrels in all. La Habra incorporated on January 20, 1925 with about 3,000 residents, was the largest avocado center in Southern California by 1928 and was named an All-America City in 1974. Today about 21,000 households share its 7.3 square miles at the county's northernmost corner, between the Puente Hills on the north and the Coyote Hills on the south, with Brea to the east, Fullerton to the south and southeast, and the county line along the north and west.

The Census (ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates) gives La Habra housing a median year built of 1968. Of the homes, 77 percent are older than 1980 and 52 percent are detached single-family houses, and the 1950s alone account for 28 percent of the count. The City's General Plan credits the postwar boom of the 1950s to the 1970s with the fastest growth La Habra has seen and much of the housing still standing. North Hills, along Harbor Boulevard beside Brea, is all older single-family homes, and the Central Core, northwest La Habra and the blocks south of Imperial Highway are almost entirely single-family as well. Westridge, up in the southwest hills by Westridge Golf Club and La Habra Marketplace, holds the newer and larger houses. In a 1950s house on one of those older streets, the drains and the sewer lateral may well be the ones the builder laid more than 70 years ago.

Water works differently here than in most of Orange County. The City of La Habra Water / Sewer Division serves the whole city, but La Habra sits outside the main Orange County groundwater basin. In fiscal 2024-25 about 73 percent of its water was groundwater purchased from the California Domestic Water Company and piped in from beyond the county line, 22 percent came from City wells in the La Habra Basin and 5 percent was imported water, wholesaled by the Municipal Water District of Orange County. That arrangement is old: in August 1903 La Habra became the first Orange County community to bring in water from outside the county. Hardness in 2025 came to about 16 grains per gallon for City well water, 13 for the purchased groundwater and 14 for the imported supply. Three reservoirs and about 165 miles of mains feed the city, and 49 pressure regulating stations divide its hills into 21 pressure zones, so the pressure reaching a house depends on the zone it sits in. Smart meters linked to the My Water Advisor portal can flag a leak, City rules call for leaks to be fixed in a timely manner and bar lawn watering from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or within 48 hours after rain, and a cross-connection plan has been in effect since July 1, 2025.

About 125 miles of City gravity sewer, 6 to 24 inches across, carry wastewater to Orange County Sanitation District trunk lines under Imperial Highway and Beach Boulevard; the City and the district rehabilitated parts of that system in 2002. As we read La Habra's municipal code, the owner answers for the house sewer and lateral up to and including the connection at the main, routine and emergency cleaning included, and digging in the street needs a City encroachment permit first. We could not confirm that wording with the City itself, so check with the Water / Sewer Division for your address before a trench is planned. Plumbing permits come from the Building and Safety Division at City Hall, 110 E. La Habra Blvd., through the City's online portal or over the counter Monday to Thursday mornings, because City Hall closes on Fridays. Southern California Gas Company runs a high-pressure main along the Union Pacific right-of-way, and Southern California Edison supplies the power. From the Children's Museum, set in a 1923 depot on Euclid Street, to the streets around La Bonita Park and El Centro-Lions Park, every call goes out from our Fullerton location, and each finished La Habra job carries our written workmanship warranty.

La Habra borders Brea and Fullerton. We take calls from each of those as well, and the plumber for any of them comes from our location nearest that address. Someone picks up the phone around the clock, the plumber hunts down the true starting point of a leak or clog before a wall or floor gets cut, and the work waits for your signature on the written estimate.