There are many scenarios where our customers have no water entering their homes from the city main in the street. There are a number of scenarios when this occurs, in some cases it can be overnight. Mrs. Smith on Greene St may wake up in the morning and have no water in the entire home.
In other cases it may be a new home that was purchased and unoccupied for months or years, the new homeowner attempts to run the water to find out that there is nothing! No water entering the home, nothing in the shower, kitchen sink or bathroom!
Why would this happen?
In the Mrs. Greene scenario there are a few variables that may lead to no water overnight. First would be that Mrs. Greene received a 3 day notice from the NYC DEP and either didn’t understand the severity of her 3 day notice or one of her tenants received the violation and never notified her.
As a result the water is shut off in the street from the city tap connection, to prevent the leaking water main from creating a dangerous situation.
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Another scenario would be that the water main leak was extreme, flooding the street, flooding a neighbors basement or leaking into another utility manhole which would ultimately create a dangerous situation.
Major sinkhole in street from leaking water main |
Sinkhole from water main leak |
Water main leaking into sewer |
All of these reasons would legitimize a homeowner’s water being shut off in a short period of time, with minimal notice.
In the case of purchasing a home that was abandoned or unoccupied for an extended period of time, it is common for the property to suffer from vandalism. In this case the may have had the copper removed from the house and unfortunately when the thieves do so, they don’t care to do so in a courteous manner. In many cases they literally rip the pipe out of the wall, removing the meter and leaving the water to flood the basement.
Water leak floods basement |
In other similar cases the water main may freeze during the winter months due to no heat in the building. The basement would start to flood to the point of seeping out of the doors and even into a neighbor’s house. At this time the DEP has no choice but to open the roadway and close the tap connection.
Preparing for the new water main |
The new pipe goes in |
Finished product! |
If you have suffered from any of the above scenarios or have questions stemming from a similar situation, feel free to contact Harris Water Main & Sewer Contractors.
