waterboard have cut me off!! take 2

[chezruss]

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

[hallerb]

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

[marks542004]

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.

[Don Phillipson]

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.)

[chezruss]

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 c*ck 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