Commercial plumbing in Costa Mesa

Costa Mesa's restaurant corridors run along 17th Street on the Eastside, Harbor Blvd through the middle of the city, and Newport Blvd toward the coast. Many of those buildings date from the decades when most of the city was built; the City's April 2021 Housing Element shows about 73% of Costa Mesa homes predate 1980, and many commercial strips grew up alongside them. Older buildings often mean older drain lines, smaller water heaters and kitchens that have been remodeled several times by different tenants.

Grease in kitchen drains

Fats, oils and grease go down a kitchen drain warm and liquid, then cool and harden in the line. Over months they narrow the pipe until a busy night pushes it over the edge. The same thing happens in the public sewer. On May 2, 2025, about 4,000 gallons of sewage spilled at East Mesa Verde Drive and Golf Course Drive in Costa Mesa. The cause was tree roots and cooking grease, and the county temporarily closed ocean waters near the Talbert Channel.

• Scrape plates and pans into the trash before washing.
• Collect fryer oil and used grease for recycling, never down a drain.
• Keep strainers in floor sinks and prep sinks.
• Keep your grease interceptor or trap on a regular pump and clean schedule, and keep the records.
• Have kitchen lines cleaned before they fully clog, not after.

Grease control rules for food businesses are set by the sewer agency. Ask the Costa Mesa Sanitary District (CMSD) at (949) 645-8400 what applies to your restaurant. For grease buildup in lines, hydro jetting cleans the pipe wall rather than just punching a hole through the clog. See our hydro jetting page and our drain cleaning page.

South Coast Metro, which Costa Mesa shares with Santa Ana, is bounded by Segerstrom Ave to the north, the I-405 to the south, Fairview Rd to the west and SR-55 to the east. It holds South Coast Plaza at 3333 Bristol St, office towers, and the Theater and Arts District with Segerstrom Center for the Arts and South Coast Repertory. Office buildings there tend to have restroom banks on each floor, break rooms with sinks and dishwashers, and water heaters serving several suites.

Medical and dental offices

Medical and dental suites put a sink in nearly every room. Hand sinks, sterilization areas and restrooms all have to work during patient hours. When a fixture fails, the practice often needs it fixed before the next morning's schedule. We book this work before opening, after closing or on days the office is closed, and we keep work areas clean and contained.

• Hand sink faucets and drains in exam rooms and operatories.
• Sterilization room sinks and their water supply.
• Restroom fixtures, flush valves and drains.
• Water heaters sized for many sinks running at once.
• Shutoff valves labeled per suite so one repair does not shut down the floor.

For running toilets, flush valves and faucet repairs, see our toilet and faucet repair page. For hidden leaks in walls or under slabs in office buildings, see our leak detection page.

A restaurant, salon or medical office can draw hot water almost continuously. A heater sized for a small office restroom will run out in a kitchen. When a commercial heater fails, we look at whether the replacement should be the same size, larger, or a tankless or multi-unit setup.

The City of Costa Mesa's water heater installation standard (form dated September 2024) lists seismic straps at the upper and lower third of the tank, no shutoff or check valve before or after the temperature and pressure relief valve, a relief drain of at least 3/4 inch, and no PEX or similar plastic tubing within the first 18 inches of the heater. Commercial installs can have additional requirements, so the permit and inspection are handled through City of Costa Mesa Building Safety (77 Fair Drive, 2nd floor, 714-754-5273) and booked in TESSA.

Hardness also plays a part. Mesa Water's 2026 Consumer Confidence Report puts local groundwater hardness at about 6.6 grains per gallon on average in 2025, with a range of about 1.2 to 17. High-use heaters build sediment faster, so flushing schedules matter. Our water heater repair page, tankless water heater page and water hardness guide have more.