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Posted by pipedown on August 10, 2006, 9:12 pm
show/hide quoted text
> 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.
If its small claims go for it, all you have to loose now is the court fee
and a little time. (unless you're paying that expert). You might even win.
Judges can be unpredictable and often side with the little guy.
Even if the water never was turned off, pressure fluctuations would be
expected. even if the pressure was higher afterward, I'm sure they can
document that it was within spec. If they had seriously exceeded limits,
you would not be the only victim. The street work probably did influence
the failure of your pipe but I don't see the city as liable. What they did
was reveal a latent defect.
The way I see it is PVC under a driveway was an accident waiting to happen
and an elbow would be an expected stress point. Compaction of the driveway
fill at the time of construction or from cars driving over it afterward
could have weakened the thicker plastic elbow leaving it as a failure
waiting to happen. A crack in the plastic can sit for years but if just a
little more pressure hits it can split wide open. Furthermore, turbulence
can scour the inside of a pipe and remove material or setup acoustic
vibrations that ultimately weaken the joint. An elbow especially one with
some glue drips inside would be close to the worse case for this. I know it
is a well known effect in copper but not sure how common in PVC but I
wouldn't expect it to be immune.
Unless your expert is a materials failure analyst and you cross section the
pipe (or whatever is appropriate), that broken pipe is just evidence that
the pipe did break and where but not how or why.
The facts of the failure are one thing, its how the judge sees liability
when a circumstantial cause and effect is argued and if those circumstances
constituted negligence on anyone's part. That I don't know.
Good luck
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Posted by glenn P on August 10, 2006, 6:38 pm
I don't think you really have a case.
Water hammer can be a problem, but tends to be a fatiguing issue, rather
than a one-off "bang". If the company restoring water to your pipes caused a
rupture, the most likely scenario is that your pipes were sub-standard to
start with.
To extrapolate the situation, just say you have a rusting water heater. The
utility needs to interrupt your supply (as is often required), and the
pressure surge ruptures your heater. The company is liable for neither the
heater, or any damage the water creates. I think this is a similar situation
to yours.
Save your money on lawyers, and get a landscaper IMHO....
show/hide quoted text
>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 buffalobill on August 10, 2006, 7:09 pm
i'm a property owner in buffalo ny.
by your descriptions, it unfortunately sounds like turning on and off
of the water main service has prematurely revealed a pending failure of
the plastic component or its installation.
[other mystery items of question might be arguably the type of soil,
gravel or material surrounding the pipe, and driveway weight loads over
the years [an unknown]. what is the water pressure of the main? would
the pipes throughout your system normally handle this?]
we have underground a connection to the main in the street, then a
curbside underground shutoff, then the pipe continues to the basement
where the water meter is located.
about 5 years ago it cost us $5000 to put in an underground replacement
service of 1" copper completely from the street main to the house.
buried copper pipe here goes 4 feet underground because of the winter
frost line. we replaced it because a previous owner or plumber didn't
properly run the water underground to prevent winter freezing, only
under the floorboards of the at grade front half of the building.
jennifer_mckennan@hp.com wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> 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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> 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.