This is part of the justification e-mail received today, for United Utilities' rip-off attempt. As I’m sure you’re aware that United Utilities Water mains are often, but not always, laid under highways and with this is mind our costing and charges can reflect this to include permits from the local authority, who have to authorise us to be able to carry out the work. This in turn can include us having to excavate within the pathway to enable the work to be carried out. The estimated charges which I have sent are to complete the work, the man hours involved by our team, the machinery/tools to do the connection and once the connection has been made to back fill the excavation and clear up the site. I've replied, pointing out, what I've asked for, doesn't require a "team." Nothing more than, one man with a spade and a spanner. They aren't having to re-dig the Channel Tunnel.
Riley gees ..so aggravating isn’t it. That’s the last thing you need at the moment. Talk with someone higher up in the organization. Or better yet check with your homeowners ins company for resources. You’d be surprised on how much info they can offer.
Had a visit from an engineer from United Utilities today. He examined the water meter. He concluded that it had been positioned incorrectly. This resulted in two right-angle bends before it reached the old stopcock. This would dramatically reduce the pressure. He's going to recommend they reinstall it and connect to my new pipe. In which case there will be no charge.
Yeah… They gotta get up early in the morning to fool you. So glad you have got the water main ordered to repair properly.
Cherish this moment, Riley. Such developments do not occur often. I am happy for you. BTW— how is the missus coming along?
Had a further visit from United Utilities yesterday. They will arrange with the local council for a licence to dig out the old meter in the pathway and install a new one. We had this meter fitted three years ago after I'd closed the koi pol, so I stopped using 300 gallons a week (10% of the pool's volume) trickle changing the water, in addition to the work of the big filter. Most koi keepers make this sort of change. It would have been more expensive to have a water meter before then. At the time, United Utilities were offering "free water meters." The guy told me that these jobs were contracted out and the company made a mess of a few, as they had with ours. They will connect it to my new 25mm alkathene pipe, So no charge!
So much for my idea that this job would only require one man with a spade and a spanner. A big van turned up at 8.00am this morning with a large four wheeled trailer, with an excavator and it was full of big yellow barriers and signs. The three man crew, closed off the footpath either side of our house with these barriers and placed “footpath closed” notices, cones and arrow signs, “everywhere.” They then used a yellow paint aerosol to spray put “East and West” markings through a template on the footpath either side of the water meter, to indicate where they were going to excavate. Then one took photos on his mobile phone, to prove that these precautions had been taken, before they started work. I guess under 'elf n' safety” it's necessary, but the likelihood of there being any pedestrians passing was nil. Everyone in our crescent has a car. Kids don't even pass on their way to school, few families live here with them and their parents take them by car. Then “rain stopped play” for a bit. They used a jackhammer to get through the pathway and the excavator to remove the soil. Job part done and reconnected in a couple of hours. There were actually four right-angled bends in the pipework from the badly fitted meter, before it connected to my new pipe. Now with the meter refitted the right way round, there are no bends. So much better pressure The third man was the supervisor, there to see the job was done to my satisfaction. He knew I'd written to their chief exec. He was the one who realised that there must have been a problem between my new pipe and the meter if I was still getting low pressure after it was installed. So he came down a couple of weeks back to check it out. The original meter had been fitted by a sub-contractor, not United Utilities themselves. He was aware I'd written to the C E. I told him I'd be writing back complementing the team on their work (in the rain). The pressure is now fine. The pathway still needs to be reinstated later today.
My goodness! That's quite the construction project. It reminds me a little of the septic system I had removed. Many years ago there was a trailer (caravan?) on my property with its own septic system. The trailer was long ago gone, and the system unused at least a decade. The county health department required I have it inspected every two years, $100 a pop, even though there was no dwelling connected to it. Finally, I decided for safety reasons to have it removed. The contractors brought in a backhoe and did that, collapsing the tank and filling the hole with sand and backfilling with soil. The health department continued for years, sending me threats of fines if I didn't have the nonexistent septic system inspected. Finally, last year I was able to contact the original contractor again and they contacted the health department to stop those notices.
Nearly there. Two guys turned up in this big truck with a grabber completely blocking the road and filled the big hole in the pathway around my new water meter. They then compressed the fill with a petrol driven "wacker." All at 8.00am on a Sunday morning, which would have pleased my neighbours no end. Had to move the barriers when they'd gone, as they'd not left me much room to get my car out later today. The pathway still needs to be tarmacked, but that won't happen until Monday at the earliest.
