Can I get the city involved if a neighbor's leaking pool is flooding my backyard?

You need to call the city's water department or public works right away to report a potential main break or service line leak. If your yard is turning into a swamp and the neighbor is seeing intrusion too, it's very rarely a pool leak. A standard pool only holds about 15,000 to 20,000 gallons, and even a slow leak wouldn't saturate multiple yards indefinitely without the pool visibly emptying every few days. If they have an **auto-fill valve**, it could be stuck open, but even then, a broken city pipe or a leak on the house-side of the meter is a much more likely culprit for that volume of water.

Leave that note on the door like you planned, but frame it as a concern about their water bill rather than an accusation. Just let them know you’re seeing standing water and you're worried they might have a massive underground leak they haven't noticed yet. Most people will jump on that because they don't want a $1,000 water bill. If they still don't respond, code enforcement is definitely an option. Most municipalities have ordinances against discharging water onto neighboring properties or allowing standing water to become a nuisance or a mosquito breeding ground.

Before you spend your own money on a leak detection specialist, check the water meter at the street if you can find it. If the little flow indicator or the 'low flow' dial is spinning while no water is running in your house, the leak is yours. If yours is still, see if you can spot the neighbor's meter. If that dial is spinning like a top, you have your answer.

If the city determines it's a private line issue and not a main break, they usally issue a **notice to repair**. They can't always force the fix immediately, but they can shut off the water to that property if the leak is severe enough to damage public infrastructure or create a health hazard. That usually gets a homeowner's attention much faster than a friendly letter ever will.

I don't know much about plumbing, but can a pool really leak that much without the owner noticing the water level dropping? That sounds so stressful. If it is an auto-fill thing like you mentioned, does that mean the pool stays full while the water just keeps pumping into the ground? I'm curious if there are specific types of doors or seals back there that ussually fail, or if it's always the pipes. woud the city acutally come out to check someone else's meter for you, or do you have to go look at it yourself?

I dealt with this when a neighbor's drainage started rotting my rear slider's threshold. I didn't bother with more notes after the first one went ignored. I took photos of the standing water against my foundation and went down to the city’s building department in person.

The trick was reporting it as an 'illicit discharge' and 'grading violation.' Most cities have rules that you can't dump water onto a neighbor's lot. Once I showed them the photos of my waterlogged door frame, they sent a code officer out within 48 hours. That officer's notice on thier front door got the pool fixed faster than any friendly chat ever coud.

Seriously, don't wait. If the ground's that wet, your exterior door frames are gonna be the first to go. They'll soak up that moisture, swell, and won't even latch right. I've seen plenty of metal frames rust out from the bottom just 'cause of standing water like that. If they're never home, check if it's a rental. If it's an Airbnb, you can usually find the owner's info trough the listing online. They usually move way faster when their ratings are at risk than when a neighbor's just knocking on a door.

Have you ruled out a high water table or a natural spring? I've seen situations where everyone blames a neighbor's pool or a door seal, but the soil is just saturated from seasonal runoff. If you're in a low-lying area, it might just be the grade of the land itself settling. Before you get the city to start fine-tuning thier plumbing, I'd check if any of your neighbors further down the block are seeing similar dampness.