hi
i have a small barn in wales that my beloved father gave me before he
passed on. it was very difficult to get planning on it as it is in a
conservation area, but 3rd time lucky i succeeded. it has always had a
water supply, and as my parents lived next door to it , it was used
occassionally for car wash etc. my parents then sold the house and kept
just the barn with the intention of it eventually being a residence.
now the work is all but finished to be liveable for me and family, but
the water has been cut off.
apparently whats happened in speaking to the neighbours is that
contractors have been upgrading in the area by replacing old iron pipes
with plastic and just doing the ones that appear on their plans, and
certainly not the little spurs such as mine that they dont even know
about.
in the uk water is not metered , as a global sum is charged. however
there is a wacking great charge for a new installation for a water
supply. I d have been quite happy to pay the water standing charge when
we move into the property, but it ll be a drag to pay for a new pipe as
in effect there already was one / although maybe in lead/ before they
cut it off.
I d like to contact the waterboard and tell them to put me back on the
supply, and i ll pay them the standing charge as a customer , but they
may say that i wasnt a customer at the time of the cut off and
therefore they have no obligation to me. problem is that now the
plumber has attached pipes to what is in effect now an inexistant water
supply. further complication is that old supply pipe/ ie one that is
now cut / passes thru neighbours garden, so to replace it , his garden
would have to be dug up a bit.
talk about sods law , just when we need water for heating,
cooking,cleaning and basically living it gets cut off.
any ideas anyone
Chezruss

how about a well? you have a septic tank or sewer?

chezruss wrote:
hi
i have a small barn in wales that my beloved father gave me before he
passed on. it was very difficult to get planning on it as it is in a
conservation area, but 3rd time lucky i succeeded. it has always had a
water supply, and as my parents lived next door to it , it was used
occassionally for car wash etc. my parents then sold the house and kept
just the barn with the intention of it eventually being a residence.
now the work is all but finished to be liveable for me and family, but
the water has been cut off.
apparently whats happened in speaking to the neighbours is that
contractors have been upgrading in the area by replacing old iron pipes
with plastic and just doing the ones that appear on their plans, and
certainly not the little spurs such as mine that they dont even know
about.
in the uk water is not metered , as a global sum is charged. however
there is a wacking great charge for a new installation for a water
supply. I d have been quite happy to pay the water standing charge when
we move into the property, but it ll be a drag to pay for a new pipe as
in effect there already was one / although maybe in lead/ before they
cut it off.
I d like to contact the waterboard and tell them to put me back on the
supply, and i ll pay them the standing charge as a customer , but they
may say that i wasnt a customer at the time of the cut off and
therefore they have no obligation to me. problem is that now the
plumber has attached pipes to what is in effect now an inexistant water
supply. further complication is that old supply pipe/ ie one that is
now cut / passes thru neighbours garden, so to replace it , his garden
would have to be dug up a bit.
talk about sods law , just when we need water for heating,
cooking,cleaning and basically living it gets cut off.
any ideas anyone
Chezruss


Hi,

I would get a consult with a local lawyer.

My guess is that if you were not paying a basic charge for water then
you were not a customer and the upgrade has cut you off.

You could argue that the fact there was a connection present meant you
were a customer, although you had no account.

Water pipes and sewers are often handled by an easement but I hope you
are friendly with the neighbours.

I also hope you had planning approvals for all the building work you
have done.

"chezruss" wrote in message
oups.com...

i have a small barn in wales that my beloved father gave me before he
passed on. it was very difficult to get planning on it as it is in a
conservation area, but 3rd time lucky i succeeded. it has always had a
water supply, and as my parents lived next door to it , it was used
occassionally for car wash etc. my parents then sold the house and kept
just the barn with the intention of it eventually being a residence.
now the work is all but finished to be liveable for me and family, but
the water has been cut off.
apparently whats happened in speaking to the neighbours is that
contractors have been upgrading in the area by replacing old iron pipes
with plastic and just doing the ones that appear on their plans, and
certainly not the little spurs such as mine that they dont even know
about.
in the uk water is not metered , as a global sum is charged. however
there is a wacking great charge for a new installation for a water
supply. I d have been quite happy to pay the water standing charge when
we move into the property, but it ll be a drag to pay for a new pipe as
in effect there already was one / although maybe in lead/ before they
cut it off.
I d like to contact the waterboard and tell them to put me back on the
supply, and i ll pay them the standing charge as a customer , but they
may say that i wasnt a customer at the time of the cut off and
therefore they have no obligation to me. problem is that now the
plumber has attached pipes to what is in effect now an inexistant water
supply. further complication is that old supply pipe/ ie one that is
now cut / passes thru neighbours garden, so to replace it , his garden
would have to be dug up a bit.

1. You seem lucky if your water supplier is a public
utility and water is cheap. In England the water utilities
were privatized 10 or 20 years ago and charges increased
fast.
2. It is fruitless to speculate about what the water board
might say when you approach them.
3. Since the work was done by a contractor, for a public
board, it is reasonable to expect the contract to be public.
I.e. you can examine it to see whether the contractor was
authorized to block water connections not shown on his
official map (if he had such a map as you suggest.)
4. Since the planning authority approved a dwelling in
this conservation area, it is reasonable to expect it to
be connected to the water supply. (Most parts of most
conservation areas probably have no piped water.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

thanks for all the suggestions everyone.
tommorrow the plumber is going to have a look at the street hydrant to
see if theres a stop cock closed that could affect my supply. if he
cant turn my supply on, I ll be onto the waterboard to find out what
they can do for me. before i do that I ll speak to my bro as hes a
solicitor and maybe able to give me my rights. I ll tell you how I get
on. thanks,and wishing you all a belated Happy, Joyful and Prosperous
New Year from Chezruss