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Posted by on August 10, 2006, 1:54 pm
I currently have a small claims suit against the Water Company. Last
summer the water company was working on my street fixing leaks on the
water main. The water co claim they never interrupted service - I am
usually at work, so I can no say then did or did not. Less then 48
hours after the city's repair the water main leading from the meter to
my house burst causing us to have to dig up our drive way to get to the
pipe. According to the water company, they claim that we responsible
for the damage since it is on our property. I understand from the city
engineer that there are proper procedures for shuting down/turning on
water to protect residential plumbing, although I cannot find any
articles/documentation on this.
Also, I have been reading about water hammer, and the cause happens
when the water supply is turn-on/off to quickly changing pressure in
the pipes. I am sure that their repair created this issue in the
water main that lead to the burst and damage to our property. Can
anyone provide me with info or point me in a direction that I could get
information that could support our theory in court? Also, if you have
an explaination of possibly causes, I am all ears.
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Posted by Speedy Jim on August 10, 2006, 2:13 pm
jennifer_mckennan@hp.com wrote:
> I currently have a small claims suit against the Water Company. Last
> summer the water company was working on my street fixing leaks on the
> water main. The water co claim they never interrupted service - I am
> usually at work, so I can no say then did or did not. Less then 48
> hours after the city's repair the water main leading from the meter to
> my house burst causing us to have to dig up our drive way to get to the
> pipe.
<SNIP>
Oh, most assuredly it can happen. And they know it.
But why admit it to you?
If service (flow) is suddenly restored in a Main,
there is not only the static pressure to contend with,
but the inertial velocity of the huge slug of
(incompressible) water hurtling down the Main.
I've seen other residential service failures like yours
(one involving a service 500 ft long which the city
convinced the owner to pay for excavating and replacing!).
after restoring service too rapidly to a dry Main.
(No, you can't call me as a witness:-)
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Posted by dpb on August 10, 2006, 2:31 pm
jennifer_mckennan@hp.com wrote:
> I currently have a small claims suit against the Water Company. Last
> summer the water company was working on my street fixing leaks on the
> water main. The water co claim they never interrupted service - I am
> usually at work, so I can no say then did or did not. Less then 48
> hours after the city's repair the water main leading from the meter to
> my house burst causing us to have to dig up our drive way to get to the
> pipe. According to the water company, they claim that we responsible
> for the damage since it is on our property. I understand from the city
> engineer that there are proper procedures for shuting down/turning on
> water to protect residential plumbing, although I cannot find any
> articles/documentation on this.
...
> anyone provide me with info or point me in a direction that I could get
> information that could support our theory in court? Also, if you have
> an explaination of possibly causes, I am all ears.
Since you weren't there, how can you be "sure"? Sure, there's the
factor of near proximity in time, but how can you prove to the
satisfaction of a judge (even in small claims) that it is really their
fault when (since you're saying you're already in court) they haven't
been amenable to approaching them for at least cost-share, they're
going to show up and claim it is just that, a coincidence your line
failed when it did.
Best I can see would be if you can get some neighbors to be able to
swear the water was, in fact off, but unless you're not the only one w/
damage, I think it will still be very difficult to prove the case that
they were the proximate cause. Mabe you'll get lucky and get a lenient
judge who has some leeway to ajudicate shared blame, but I wouldn't
count on it.
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Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on August 10, 2006, 3:11 pm
>
> Also, I have been reading about water hammer, and the cause happens
> when the water supply is turn-on/off to quickly changing pressure in
> the pipes. I am sure that their repair created this issue in the
> water main that lead to the burst and damage to our property. Can
> anyone provide me with info or point me in a direction that I could get
> information that could support our theory in court?
You say you are "sure", then you want support for your "theory". As it
stands, it is a theory until you have proof. Do you have the broken pipe?
Has anyone looked at it to determine cause of failure? How old is the pipe?
What condition was it in? Where did it break? What material is the pipe
made from? Did it break at a kink, thinned out section? bend? Was your feed
line physically touched by the repair crew?
If the water company caused the break, why did it take 48 hours to appear?
How was it noticed? Drop in water pressure, leak at the street?
Let's say the normal pressure for you area is 50 psi. Copper can withstand
much more than that. probably over 500 psi Let's just say there was a
pressure surge that brought it to 100 psi. If your pipe was broken at 80
psi, I'd have to say it was corroded and not capable of taking what is
considered normal under certain circumstances. .
Unless you can get expert testimony, I think you may have a tough time
collecting on this. You need the preponderance of evidence and so far, you
have only a theory.
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Posted by on August 10, 2006, 3:37 pm
The good news is that I do have expert testimony as well as testimony
from my neighbors.
The pipe burst was at a 90-degree joint, it is a pvc pipe, and my house
is about 7 years old. The pipe has been dug up a retained as evidence
to show the burst and the condition of the pipes, which is not old or
corroded. The joint broke on the water supply side, indicating the
water pressure surge came from the water main, versus on the side
leading to the house. We do have very high water pressure where we
live, it is around 100 psi, and pressure reducer gage going into the
house.
The repair was completed around 5pm on a Friday, and water was gushing
up from my driveway at 8am on Sunday, so I am assuming it broke before
then, but took that long before it was visable gushing from the
driveway.
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