So I have the water at my cabin put in what the water company calls “vacation status” over the winter as it is not used.
I tell them by phone the reading and I am charged nothing for the months since they don’t have to send someone out to read the meter. For vacation status They do not come and remove the meter like a normal cancellation of water service. Vacation status saves me the shut off and turn on fees (is. Them coming out and removing and replacing the meter).
When I want to use it again I call and verify the numbers on the meter are within so many gallons of the beginning of vacation status.
And normal billing and monthly meter checks continue if your first reading after vacation status starts is abnormally high you get some sort of penalty and loss of being able to use vacation status. I am not trying to cheat them I actually don’t use the water in the winter so I am not exactly sure.
But anyway the past month everyday off I don’t have the kiddos I have been down. Well my first time down a few weeks ago I grab my lovely little meter key and head down to the box. We have had nothing but rain, rain, rain and I pop the lid on the box (always very carefully and slowly as the snakes tend to like it) box is dang near full of water. So I know about where the valve is so I just stick my key down in the muckity muck and feel around till it catches and turn her on. About get sprayed in the face. That is not right so I stick the key in and shut it off start scooping water out of the box to find that the meter is GONE!!!!!
It takes me 10 minutes to find the box so there is no way someone stole the meter. I call the water company and ask what the deal is. I got the ohh we are upgrading to digital meters and since you were on vacation status we just did not put a new one in. Well you had better get over here immediately as I am down for the day to work on the cabin and I need the water.
So they come and show me the fancy digital meter hook it up and leave.
I head up to the cabin and open all the faucets get that lovely hissing sound. Now the shut off is quite a ways from the cabin so it takes awhile. This time it was really taking a long time and I am just getting a trickle out of one faucet.
Walk back to the meter and it is showing no flow. That is not good.
Well, when they took the meter they did not even cap that lines just left them open. And with all the rain mud made its way into the line pressure reducer and when we turned the water on the mud clogged the reducer ruining it.
So new reducer had to be installed. Granted it is only about $200 for the reducer and labor but that is $200 out of the already small renovation budget I had for the bathroom, kitchen, and complete electrical rewire.

I am of the belief that the water company owes me $200 and not in bill credits considering I only pay about $100 a year in bills it would take at least 2 years to be paid back.
Am I wrong before I call and make a fuss?

No. You will need to voice your complaint more succinctly. Good luck. Sometimes if you are nice and polite they will take care of it. This is the sort of thing that takes a lot of time. Depends on what your time is worth. Some companies will work with you.

They didn’t take care of your lines when removing. They owe you. You didn’t ask for them to decide you needed a new meter and they should have protected your lines by capping or installing a new meter.

Collect 200.00

The water company caused your problems so they should pay to fix them. Might be easier to get twc to make the repairs in house rather than cut you a check. Good luck.

In my experience, there is a corpstop (ball valve for your wrench) on either side of the meter. One side is the utilities the other is yours. This arrangement allows them to effectively "cap" your service line when the meter is removed or serviced. Real dumb move to not isolate the customer side. Anyone who knows even a small bit about the effects of gravity, knows meter boxes fill with water and that that crap ends up in the PRV/home plumbing.

I'd bitch and claim they introduced the e.coli into your plumbing and your whole family has the runs. But seriously, it is a concern.

There should be two valves in the box. One on each side of the meter. Before the meter is removed both should be closed. That prevents the problem you had because your line is not left open. Apparently they failed to close the valve on the output side... leaving your line open to the elements, if so they are, IMO, responsible. However I doubt they pay and it is likely not worth your trouble if they are anything like the departments around here. Pressure reducers go bad, how old was it? They will likely take the stand that you can't prove the cause of the failure. Then again you might get lucky!

Edit to add:
shiftyvtec laid it out...
I got distracted with a phone call while I was typing my response.

I am on the BOD for a small water company, ~330 homes. I am confused on a couple of things in your post, but I don't think it's necessary to the main point. In our community, the water company owns the "curb stop box". This is the valve out by the street where the water is turned on and off (and it connects to the main). The customer owns everything "down stream" of the curb stop box, starting with the service line (the pipe that connects the curb stop box to the interior of your house, where the meter is located.). The meter is in the house, but the customer in essence owns the meter as we make them pay for it...We are also in the process of upgrading to "self reporting" digital meters. We specify what meter they must buy (from us). We also have "pit meters". A pit meter is a meter that's in a pit, generally about 6' down.

When we turn off water, for whatever reason, it gets turned off at the curb stop. Meters are never removed when the water is turned off.

We would never, ever, remove a meter without replacing it with a new one. That is just plain odd, IMO.

Not saying you aren't entitled to be compensated for the fuck up, but like I said, the homeowners are responsible for everything "down stream" of the curb stop.

Last two replies nailed it. Really easy to prevent this problem, they fucked up, period. Either they should have completed the work in one day or they should have capped or shut off the customer side of the water service. Did they shut off their side? If so I think it prudent to do the other side.

Easy way to figure this one out, if not for them removing the meter would you have suffered a loss? If the answer is no, then I think we can answer who is at fault.

It’s their bad, and they should pay to fix it or fix it by their guys.

quote:

Not saying you aren't entitled to be compensated for the fuck up, but like I said, the homeowners are responsible for everything "down stream" of the curb stop.

Where I live the curb stop is the water meter, there is no meter inside of my house. Readings were done by some elderly guy in a pickup every quarter, about a decade ago, they went to wireless and just drive down the street to get a reading.

Normally any problems after the meter are homeowners problem, in his case it seems that removal of the meter actually caused the problem due to their lack of care in removing the meter. So if I understand correctly he's set up lime me not you, and it was the water companys fault for not sealing the load side in the pit.

Pass Go! Collect $200.

Meter is in a pit about 3 feet in the ground surrounded by a plastic box with a lid. There is a shut off just prior to the meter, a few inches of pipe, then the pressure reduced.
So you all are saying I should have a shut off just after the meter as well? The meter is down by the road about 200 yards from the cabin or so.

There was not even a shut off at the house. There is one now (part of the planned renovations) and the pressure reducer has already been replaced.

What we see around here in older areas where meters are at the street is something like this.



Usually with same valve on the left as on the right.

I’m sure places do it differently especially in older homes.

IMHO however removed the water meter and didn’t do something to protect the pipes is responsible. That’s just laziness. So definitely call the water company and ask the what the deal is.

Ah. Fun with the water company. I feel your pain. My water coop just installed my water meter at the site of my new construction...in the wrong spot.

:: sigh ::

They should reimburse you for the repair, they're at fault.

I wouldn't be drinking or using the water for cooking for awhile. Boil order since the line is now contaminated.

quote:

Originally posted by PaPaP226:
In my area all i have ever seen is one valve before the meter and a valve at the house to be used for water shut off to the house.
Also everything after the meter is owned by the home owner along with the responsibility of maintenance.

I would have address the issue with the water company as they created it and hold responsibility imo.

This is all I've seen at a bunch of different properties. One valve just before the meter. One valve at the house, nothing just after the meter.

The water company should pay. Have you called them? Keep us updated on the outcome.

Who owns the pit?

As a meter reader in my yout' I came across plenty of very muddy pits but never standing water.

Do you need a PRV? Is a bypass piped alongside the PRV? What is the pressure without a PRV?

Most PRVs can be disassembled and repaired. The plumber took the old one?

Personally, I prefer 125 p.s.i. as it is super effective at scouring mud off of my boots. Some new-style toilet fill valves will blow apart at that pressure, though.

First time I ever heard of a "cabin" with city water supply.

I hope you get them to pay!