Homeowner responsibility for water service line

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rotkam
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Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rotkam »

We live in the San Jose, CA area and recently received a letter stating that, "The original water service line buried underground on your property was installed before 1978. If you have not replaced or maintained this line, it may be at risk for age-related leaks or ruptures. And, you are responsible for the care and maintenance of the water service line from the San Jose Water Company..". It goes on to sell us insurance for the amount of $4.95/month to pay for any costs associated with repair of the water service line.

I don't have any experience with how often and when these lines might break and what they cost. Any advice on whether this is worthwhile, or is this a scam that the water company is complicit in?

Thanks.
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daytona084
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by daytona084 »

I have never heard of an issue with a water service line. (Sewer line yes... water line no). Common practice has been to use copper tubing since at least about 1960... or maybe longer. They are very durable, and do not corrode. I suspect that $4.95 per month is a very good deal for the company selling the insurance.
livesoft
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by livesoft »

Homeowners have always been responsible for the line between the main water line and their plumbing. Are they responsible for a main water line buried within an easement? I don't see how that is possible.

Would your homeowner's insursance cover a broken line between the main line and your plumbing? I doubt it would exceed your deductible, but you can call your insurance company and ask.
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rgardne70
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rgardne70 »

We have also received these ads in San Diego over the last couple of years. I receive such an ad about every three months.

One of the TV station's consumer affairs reporter researched it and found out that the company is giving the city some amount of dollars for every policy sold.

The TV station also was not able to find anyone who ever had had a problem with the water line.

Advice from the consumer affairs reporter - ignore the ad and throw it in your recycling bind.

If you buy a policy, it is a money maker for the company and the city but only an additional expense for you with probably never any return.
Helloeeze
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Helloeeze »

Advice from the consumer affairs reporter - ignore the ad and throw it in your recycling bind.
Good to know! I get these every 3 months. I figured there must be a big profit in it for somebody to be spending their money sending so many notices. But they are from the City, so it is confusing.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Do you have any trees growing in front of your home? It's not so much an issue of pipe corrosion, however tree roots have been known to wrap themselves around the pipe and squeeze it like much like a boa constrictor does until the pipe starts to leak water, then you see the bubbling of water rise to the surface. If you have trees nearby, this can happen to you.

Replacement of such a line can cost up to $5K - no joke. So you have to decide whether you are at risk or not. I have this insurance, $50 vs. $5000.00, I'd have to be paying it out for a very long time for me to lose.
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rpike
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rpike »

daytona084 wrote:I have never heard of an issue with a water service line. (Sewer line yes... water line no). Common practice has been to use copper tubing since at least about 1960... or maybe longer. They are very durable, and do not corrode. I suspect that $4.95 per month is a very good deal for the company selling the insurance.
In my neighborhood I believe most of the houses were built in the 70s and we as well as at least several other neighborhood houses have had the copper water service lines leak and require replacement. We also have a widespread issue in our town with copper piping inside houses developing pinhole leaks. In our case the ground had become completely saturated, but went undetected until it eventually started coming up through the basement floor - our house was basically floating on an underground pond. Replacement ended up costing thousands of dollars, partially as a result of their great difficulty in locating the water line, digging in multiple places, and pumping away enough water to get to the pipe. We were told that our HO insurance would have covered damages to the house or contents from the leak which were actually minimal, but not the cost of repairing it.

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Sheepdog
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Sheepdog »

Yes, water lines do break and they can be expensive. In my neighborhood (houses built 1969 to about 1976), where I have lived since 1972, I would guess that 1/2 have had to have theirs replaced, the latest in 2013.
Did I buy similar insurance as you have mentioned? No. I self insure. One reason is that my builder was not the same as those which had that evidently poor workmanship.

edit, @rpike mentioned, copper pipe leaks. I have had to replace my entire inside copper pipes once because of pin hole leaks when they were about 25 years old. That was expensive too, but inside copper lines aren't insurable, I do not believe.
Last edited by Sheepdog on Sun Jul 06, 2014 1:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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sscritic
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by sscritic »

Was the letter from the San Jose Water Company or a third party?
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by sscritic »

P.S. I like google. What does google say about your letter?
https://www.google.com/search?client=sa ... 8&oe=UTF-8

I also like the word "exclusions."
ralph124cf
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by ralph124cf »

You are responsible for the water line on the house side of the meter, the water company owns the meter and the line leading up to it. In warm weather places, the meter is often located at the street curb outside, but in cold weather locations it is usually inside the house, in the basement if there is one.

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ResearchMed
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by ResearchMed »

Grt2bOutdoors wrote:Do you have any trees growing in front of your home? It's not so much an issue of pipe corrosion, however tree roots have been known to wrap themselves around the pipe and squeeze it like much like a boa constrictor does until the pipe starts to leak water, then you see the bubbling of water rise to the surface. If you have trees nearby, this can happen to you.

Replacement of such a line can cost up to $5K - no joke. So you have to decide whether you are at risk or not. I have this insurance, $50 vs. $5000.00, I'd have to be paying it out for a very long time for me to lose.
Ah, yes... trees...

We had (note past tense) an old tree in front of the (old) house that we bought several years ago.
It was an ugly tree, but still living, so DH didn't want to replace it, which was fine with me. No problem.

Uh, no problem until there was a problem.
We started having a LOT of trouble with the main sewer line out of the house. A "home colonoscopy" showed roots growing inside the sewer line.
So we had that drilled out, and it kept recurring.

The final "fix" was getting rid of that tree, as the "clogs" were getting more frequent, and we were told that we might end up needing to replace the entire sewer line from inside to the street, and that would have meant digging up the new paving-stone driveway in front of the house, NOT a pleasant thought.

Those roots could have - and apparently would have - twisted the entire sewer line.
"Boa constrictor" is a good analogy.

So we had the tree taken out, and put in a lovely cherry tree, positioned further from the sewer line.
(That tree would have needed to come out anyway, when/if we had needed to spend $$$$ for a new sewer line.)
That was about 8 years ago, and the cherry tree, the house, and both of us are much happier.
Not a single clog since then.

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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Saving$ »

This is not a good deal. Put the $4.95/month in a savings account to help toward paying if your line ever breaks.
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OAG
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by OAG »

Hang in there. You may also get one from the Gas Company (if you have natural gas service). This one is to cover the repair of your gas line INSIDE your home. The Electric Companies have another one for you to take care of the line going to your electric meter. So now the Water companies are getting into the act too. Wonder when the cable companies will dream up theirs. So for LOTS of $5 to $10 a month INSURANCE policies for all of this stuff. Frankly has anyone ever had to use them or even had problems with these things? Personally I have owned about 10 homes and never had any problems with this stuff. I usually purchase newer homes and never on a septic so maybe I lead a sheltered life.
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Topic Author
rotkam
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rotkam »

sscritic wrote:Was the letter from the San Jose Water Company or a third party?
From San Jose water company - but it is clearly marked as being provided by a third-party.
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rotkam
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rotkam »

Thanks everyone for the replies. After reading all the replies, I have decided not to get the insurance. Appreciate all the advice.
Leesbro63
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Leesbro63 »

Two separate issues:

1. Yes, it's common to own your water line to the main. And yes, especially here in the freeze/thaw rust belt, it's somewhat common for lines to break.

2. Should you get the insurance offered? I can't answer that but if it were me, I'd first find out what my homeowner's insurance covers and what optional coverages are available. I'd be leary if there was some sort of kickback to the utility from a private company, but this still might be cheap coverage considering that replacing a water line can be expensive (I, myself, experienced this in February 1996 during a very cold snap. Cost was over $5000 to get to the main, and we were without water for about a week, although the next door neighbor allowed a hose feed that helped...but it had to be dismanted each morning to thaw.)
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Mudpuppy »

In this part of CA, the homeowner is responsible for any breaks in the line that occur after the water meter. This caused a lovely back and forth between myself and the water company when their installation of a new water meter caused a leak at the water meter box. After a couple of weeks of the water company regurgitating that boiler script about "breaks after the water meter" and me repeating that the leak was at the new water meter they just installed, they finally took responsibility and fixed it on their dime.

As for the age of the line (before 1978), that really is only a risk for certain kinds of lines. And unlike sewer lines where you usually have to replace the whole thing, replacing the entire water line from the meter to the house is rare, so the cost of a fix is pretty small. This particular mailer you've received is mailed to pretty much everyone in California on what seems to be a quarterly basis. I always toss it in the recycle bin. The cost doesn't seem to be justified given the small risk of a break in most modern water pipelines.

Even if you did have a break, how quickly would the insurance company come out to repair it? I know my plumber would be out the same day. When my dad broke the water faucet off his house line (it was tee-ed directly to the main line and the tee was rusted out), it took longer for the water company to come out and locate the master shutoff valve (bermuda grass had overtaken the cover) than it took my plumber to patch in a new piece of line. He even upgraded the house shutoff valve to an elderly-friendly version while he was at it, since the water was shut off at the curb. All for under $200.
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Ged
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Ged »

Basic principle here is that if I can afford the cost of replacement, self-insure. You know that the insurance company isn't going to be charging less than their loss rate.
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Abe
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Abe »

This is the way it works in my area and I'm sure most other areas as well. The home owner is responsible for the water line from the water meter to the dwelling. Prior to the 1970's, a lot of water lines were made of lower quality material. My own house (built in the 1970's) continued to have periodic leaks. I had the line replaced with a newer, higher quality water line. In some cases they don't even have to dig your old line up. That is what I did. They run something through the old line and then attach the new line and pull it through without even digging a ditch. I think the cost was less than $300.00. It is not that expensive, and not something I would buy insurance for.
Last edited by Abe on Mon Jul 07, 2014 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Rainier
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Rainier »

Doesn't it all depend on what side of the meter the damage happens? They certainly can't charge for leaked water on the street side of the meter.

My gas company recently found a leakin my gas line in a routine sweep. It was on the street side of my meter and they fixed it very promptly and for free. Thankfully it was very close to the house but they were prepared to dig up the street if needed.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by lululu »

I've had to have two areas of the yard dug up because of water line leaks in the past six months.

Here the town has some sort of turn off buried a number of feet deep near the street. There's a cap near the surface but the goods are below the frost line.

Everything in the street up to that is their responsibility. The line from that to the water meter, which is inside my garage in a heated area, and everything from that meter to the house is my responsibility.

YMMD depending on your town's rules.

Excavating plus plumbing work (the lines were completely replaced, and as long as everything was excavated and torn up the other lines nearby were replaced as well) for the first area, about twenty feet, totaled about $3000. The second one, which was about fifteen feet, was about $2000. Neither area was easily accessible for machinery, so there was a lot of hand digging down to below the frost line. The lines probably date back about thirty years, and were copper.
Last edited by lululu on Mon Jul 07, 2014 5:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Mudpuppy »

I would point out that someone in San Jose, CA doesn't have to worry about water lines that are deeply buried to avoid the frost line. That means costs will be much less than someone in a climate that experiences freezing, since the piping will be much closer to the surface. That means it will be easier to locate and excavate. Unless the ground is extremely hard or there is a lot of hardscaping (sidewalks, etc), it could probably be excavated by hand or by small machinery. Not having to bring in heavy machinery can help keep costs reasonable.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by bertilak »

I had a copper waterline split on my side of the meter. The house was only about five years old.

Being underground, the split was not obvious. There was a soft wet spot in the yard but it was small and you had to actually step on it to notice.

I didn't notice it until the monthly bill came in.

Didn't cost too much to fix (in the long run, see below) because the line was only about a foot underground and the leak was easy to find and fix.

BOTTOM LINE: Even with that early a break 60 months at $5 adds up to $300 -- more than it cost to do the fix.

Now for the rest of the story. I called a plumbing company to fix it. The guy they sent out didn't believe the leak was where the soft wet spot was! He said he knew better and the leak would be uphill. He and a helper spent hours digging up the yard and couldn't find the leak. He said he needed to call in a specialist company with some sort of electronic equipment that hunted out underground leaks. They came out in a couple of days and said the leak was right at that soft wet spot. (duh!) I called the plumbing company and said I only wanted to pay for the actual repair They agreed. When they finally did fix it they sent a new guy with the same helper. The helper said the original guy got fired. He probably backed my story about pointing out the correct spot in the first place although I didn't ask.
Last edited by bertilak on Mon Jul 07, 2014 7:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Leesbro63 »

In regard to Bertilak's last comment: leak detection equipment has become very cheap recently. More and more plumbers will probably have this equipment as a standard tool. But this stuff was not always cheap, so it makes sense that they had to call in an expert.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by DonCamillo »

Single purpose insurance is almost always a bad deal for the purchaser. It can be a great deal for investors in companies like AFLAC.

I used to work for a computer dealer. We booked our maintenance contracts as profit.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by lululu »

bertilak wrote: I didn't notice it until the monthly bill came in.
Here the town has installed water meters that rat out leaks. If there's been enough water running for 24? hours, it sends them a report. This did not catch my first leak, since that leak was between the street and the meter, and it failed to catch the second leak, which was a very slow leak in the baseboard heating. I was kind of surprised it missed the second one.

On the positive side, since the first leak was before the meter, the water lost from that one didn't cost me any money.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Call_Me_Op »

ralph124cf wrote: In warm weather places, the meter is often located at the street curb outside, but in cold weather locations it is usually inside the house, in the basement if there is one.
..or in a meter pit.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by rixer »

The subdivision where I live was built in the early 60's. There have been 3 homes that I know of here that had their water line rust and burst. It floated their yards. These old pipes were not copper but galvanized. When I re-landscaped my yard, I decided to replace the line at that time while the yard was already dug up. As we pulled out the old galvanized pipe, it was rusted and broke in my hands.

It happens.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Abe »

This is a way to detect water leaks. Turn all the water off in the house then look at the water meter. If the dial is moving, there is water going through the meter. If everything is off in the house, there is a leak somewhere.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Leesbro63 »

Abe wrote:This is a way to detect water leaks. Turn all the water off in the house then look at the water meter. If the dial is moving, there is water going through the meter. If everything is off in the house, there is a leak somewhere.
Nope. All that does is tell you that there IS a leak. The commenter already knew that. The issue is WHERE is the leak. And around here, the homeowner is responsible all the way from the main...meaning the leak can be well BEFORE the meter (but the homeowner is not billed for the leaking water if before the meter...although the water company can turn off the water if the homeowner doesn't get it fixed in a timely manner).
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Mudpuppy »

Leesbro63 wrote:
Abe wrote:This is a way to detect water leaks. Turn all the water off in the house then look at the water meter. If the dial is moving, there is water going through the meter. If everything is off in the house, there is a leak somewhere.
Nope. All that does is tell you that there IS a leak. The commenter already knew that. The issue is WHERE is the leak. And around here, the homeowner is responsible all the way from the main...meaning the leak can be well BEFORE the meter (but the homeowner is not billed for the leaking water if before the meter...although the water company can turn off the water if the homeowner doesn't get it fixed in a timely manner).
If the leak is before the meter, the meter wouldn't be moving....

But yes, it only tells you there's a leak somewhere, which could be anything from the main line to a leaky toilet to the irrigation system. Irrigation systems are notorious for springing little leaks. I found a leak in my irrigation system recently. It was a valve in my irrigation system that would almost close, but not completely. So a little bit of water would bubble out of each sprinkler head. Not enough to notice from afar. You had to be looking right down at each sprinkler to notice it. Wasn't much in terms of water loss, but still added up over time before being discovered.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Mudpuppy »

rixer wrote:The subdivision where I live was built in the early 60's. There have been 3 homes that I know of here that had their water line rust and burst. It floated their yards. These old pipes were not copper but galvanized. When I re-landscaped my yard, I decided to replace the line at that time while the yard was already dug up. As we pulled out the old galvanized pipe, it was rusted and broke in my hands.

It happens.
Sounds like a bad quality of line was used by the builder. It happens, but cases like this are not the norm. In my neighborhood, the builder used tar-paper piping for the sewer line from the cleanout valve to the city hookup. So almost all of us have had to dig up our yards to replace those now that it's 30-40 years down the road. That doesn't mean I think all sewer lines will fail like mine did though. I realize that was just an unfortunate consequence of the builder's choice of materials, and something I didn't think to ask the neighbors about before I put the contract in on the house.

However, it would be good for the OP to talk to neighbors, particularly ones who have lived in the neighborhood for a while, and see if water main breaks have been an issue in the neighborhood. They might even know if a previous owner had already upgraded the water line.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by madbrain »

I also live in San Jose and have received this letter many times. I have shredded it just as many times.

That said, I did have a sewer line break in my 2nd year of living in our current house. It was due to tree roots. It required excavation and cost $4,000 . I had one bid at $10,000 .

It's possible that the same thing would happen to the water line some day. But I'm choosing to self-insure.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by BrandonBogle »

Two years ago my home in NC had a water leak after the meter/shutoff, but before coming inside the house. Sadly, the meter/shutoff was in the driveway, requiring a partial rip out and new concrete coming in. Cost me $3k for everything -- including repairing the driveway and boring a new line up to the house.

Personally, I would agree with others and stick that $5/mo in a savings account for whenever the line needs to be replaced. My house was built in 1981, so I go trouble 31 years out of my copper pipes. I have numerous trees in the front yard.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by bungalow10 »

I've had to replace my water line. We had what we called "the money pit", a giant hole in front of our house for some time. We had to dig up our water line TWICE before we finally elected to fix it. Of course this was after we had poured a new driveway and the driveway was right over the line. We had to hire an excavation company to directional drill under the new driveway to get the new copper from the main (which was in the street - so we were responsible for street repairs as well) into our house. Luckily, the drilling went well and we didn't have to jackhammer the new driveway.

I think the cost was about $4k for the replacement (excavation, new copper, hookup) - not counting street repairs (curb, gutter, etc). The previous repairs were several hundred dollars each.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Abe »

Mudpuppy wrote:
Leesbro63 wrote:
Abe wrote:This is a way to detect water leaks. Turn all the water off in the house then look at the water meter. If the dial is moving, there is water going through the meter. If everything is off in the house, there is a leak somewhere.
Nope. All that does is tell you that there IS a leak. The commenter already knew that. The issue is WHERE is the leak. And around here, the homeowner is responsible all the way from the main...meaning the leak can be well BEFORE the meter (but the homeowner is not billed for the leaking water if before the meter...although the water company can turn off the water if the homeowner doesn't get it fixed in a timely manner).
If the leak is before the meter, the meter wouldn't be moving....

But yes, it only tells you there's a leak somewhere, which could be anything from the main line to a leaky toilet to the irrigation system. Irrigation systems are notorious for springing little leaks. I found a leak in my irrigation system recently. It was a valve in my irrigation system that would almost close, but not completely. So a little bit of water would bubble out of each sprinkler head. Not enough to notice from afar. You had to be looking right down at each sprinkler to notice it. Wasn't much in terms of water loss, but still added up over time before being discovered.
Where I live the homeowner is only responsible for the water line from the meter to the dwelling. If there is a leak on the other side of the meter (from the meter to the main line) the Water Company is responsible for repairing that. So, if everything in the house is off and the meter is still running then there probably is a leak somewhere between the meter and the dwelling. No, this does not tell you exactly where the leak is, but it helps to narrow it down.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by prudent »

The protection plans offered in our area do not cover restoration of the dug-up area beyond backfilling the trench. No repair of concrete, no replacement of landscaping or trees, no hauling of excess debris, no repair of property damage caused by heavy excavating equipment.

They offer a rider that covers restoration of the dug-up area, but it's limited to $1,000 max.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by bungalow10 »

Abe wrote: Where I live the homeowner is only responsible for the water line from the meter to the dwelling. If there is a leak on the other side of the meter (from the meter to the main line) the Water Company is responsible for repairing that. .
Just curious, if that leak happens to be under a building or other improved area, does the utility company make you whole after they repair it?

This seems like a lot of risk for a utility company.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Abe »

bungalow10 wrote:
Abe wrote: Where I live the homeowner is only responsible for the water line from the meter to the dwelling. If there is a leak on the other side of the meter (from the meter to the main line) the Water Company is responsible for repairing that. .
Just curious, if that leak happens to be under a building or other improved area, does the utility company make you whole after they repair it?

This seems like a lot of risk for a utility company.
If the leak is between the meter and the main, the water company repairs it at their expense. They do not run water lines under buildings, at least not where I live. The main water lines run parallel to and along the sides of the streets. From the main lines they run smaller lines to the customers meter. As I said, the water company is responsible for any leaks up to that point.

From the water meter to the customers dwelling, the home owner is responsible for repairs or replacement of the water line.

I don't know what you mean, "does the utility make you whole after they repair it". The water company does not repair the part of the line that is the customers responsibility. Where is the risk for the water company?
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by BrandonBogle »

Abe's description is how it works in my area.

As to the other poster, I will guess what they mean. (1) If my water company had to repair their side of the meter, for instance from the main line through my driver to my meter, they would repair customer and public property they destroyed to repair the problem. If we are talking about the "insurance" the Op and others talk about in CA, they would have to respond with any particulars. That insurance would be for our side of the meter to the house if I read the posts correctly.
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bertilak
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by bertilak »

BrandonBogle wrote:As to the other poster, I will guess what they mean. (1) If my water company had to repair their side of the meter, for instance from the main line through my driver to my meter, they would repair customer and public property...
If a utility has a right of way through your property it becomes your problem if the utility needs to damage anything in order to access that right of way. MORAL: Don't build anything on top of a right of way unless you are willing to have it destroyed at your expense. Theoretically, you knew about the right of way from the beginning. It's one reason the banks require a survey in order to grant you a loan.

For example we have planted flower beds and shrubs in a right of way and took the risk that we would need to redo that if the gas company decided to put in a gas line (for example).

Generally there are utility right-of-ways along property lines. In my recent experience it has been a ten-foot strip, five feet on each side of the line.
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BrandonBogle
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by BrandonBogle »

Odd. The next street down they had to replace the water line leaking at the meter. The water company (or maybe the city) repaired the road, his curb, the part of the driveway they ripped up, and replanted grass (not sod though). Maybe it's a local thing for us.

At my mom's house in South Florida, they replaced everyone's driveways when they ripped out and redid the storm drains.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by fposte »

bertilak wrote: If a utility has a right of way through your property it becomes your problem if the utility needs to damage anything in order to access that right of way.
Actually, when I was looking up my easements, I found at least one in the neighborhood that included language requiring repair of damage, and the city did indeed cover restoration costs when there was a storm drain issue requiring them to dig up my backyard.

Always worth checking the actual easements.
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Abe
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by Abe »

bertilak wrote:
BrandonBogle wrote:As to the other poster, I will guess what they mean. (1) If my water company had to repair their side of the meter, for instance from the main line through my driver to my meter, they would repair customer and public property...
If a utility has a right of way through your property it becomes your problem if the utility needs to damage anything in order to access that right of way. MORAL: Don't build anything on top of a right of way unless you are willing to have it destroyed at your expense. Theoretically, you knew about the right of way from the beginning. It's one reason the banks require a survey in order to grant you a loan.

For example we have planted flower beds and shrubs in a right of way and took the risk that we would need to redo that if the gas company decided to put in a gas line (for example).

Generally there are utility right-of-ways along property lines. In my recent experience it has been a ten-foot strip, five feet on each side of the line.
Yes, bertilak is correct. If a homeowner builds anything over a utility easement it is the homeowners problem if the utility company does any damage in order to make repairs. Where I live, if the water company needs to install a meter, they usually put it a few feet from the edge of the street where the main water line is located. It is not likely anyone would be building anything there.
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ClevrChico
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by ClevrChico »

I received this letter in a different city. Like most risks, we'll self-insure instead.
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pondering
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by pondering »

Please note that the insurer can and in my case did raise rates.

They just raised the rate from $13 a month to $16.99 a month

There was some change in coverage as well.
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by JSDNJ »

ralph124cf wrote:You are responsible for the water line on the house side of the meter, the water company owns the meter and the line leading up to it. In warm weather places, the meter is often located at the street curb outside, but in cold weather locations it is usually inside the house, in the basement if there is one.

Ralph
This is incorrect.
JGoneRiding
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by JGoneRiding »

Mudpuppy wrote:In this part of CA, the homeowner is responsible for any breaks in the line that occur after the water meter. This caused a lovely back and forth between myself and the water company when their installation of a new water meter caused a leak at the water meter box. After a couple of weeks of the water company regurgitating that boiler script about "breaks after the water meter" and me repeating that the leak was at the new water meter they just installed, they finally took responsibility and fixed it on their dime.

As for the age of the line (before 1978), that really is only a risk for certain kinds of lines. And unlike sewer lines where you usually have to replace the whole thing, replacing the entire water line from the meter to the house is rare, so the cost of a fix is pretty small. This particular mailer you've received is mailed to pretty much everyone in California on what seems to be a quarterly basis. I always toss it in the recycle bin. The cost doesn't seem to be justified given the small risk of a break in most modern water pipelines.

Even if you did have a break, how quickly would the insurance company come out to repair it? I know my plumber would be out the same day. When my dad broke the water faucet off his house line (it was tee-ed directly to the main line and the tee was rusted out), it took longer for the water company to come out and locate the master shutoff valve (bermuda grass had overtaken the cover) than it took my plumber to patch in a new piece of line. He even upgraded the house shutoff valve to an elderly-friendly version while he was at it, since the water was shut off at the curb. All for under $200.
I had a similar aged house. replaced the entire line from meter to house cost ~1k with a fait bit of self work. I would have taken "insurance" if available

I have also replaced 2 sewer lines--trees both times--5k each
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Re: Homeowner responsibility for water service line

Post by nominalBob »

JGoneRiding wrote:...
I have also replaced 2 sewer lines--trees both times--5k each
How can a tree damage a sewer line unless the sewer line is leaking?
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