There are a few occasions where the DEP would actually cut off the water supply feeding a private residence. In a recent scenario, the DEP turned off the homeowner’s water main due to the leak surfacing in the roadway. The homeowner was first issued a 3 day notice after the DEP performed a noise test on her water line, and verified that her pipe was leaking.
**A DEP 3 day notice serves as a formal notification to a property owner, that their water main is leaking and must be repaired
After one week the leak continued to get more severe and began leaking through the neighbor’s foundation wall.
Leaking at neighbors wall |
At this point the neighbor began calling DEP about the leak and left them no choice but to issue a 10 day notice and close the water main from the street. The owner was in denial and refused to believe it was her leak until it was proven.
After fighting a bad leak for several hours, DEP finally reached the city main where the water was to be closed. As soon as the connection to the city main was turned off, the leak was no longer surfacing in the roadway or the neighbor’s foundation wall.
DEP fights the leak |
The neighbor now had no choice but to replace her lead water main if she wanted to have running water in her home.
The water is off |
The new water main installation began within one day when the licensed plumber obtained all required permits and began excavating in the roadway.
Digging for the new water line |
Once the excavations were completed, the installation crew began blowing tunnels below ground level in preparation for the new water main installation. The entire installation was completed the very same day.
Digging for the new water line |
In the event that you have been issued a DEP 3 day notice, it is important to contact a trusted water main and sewer contractor for a professional opinion. As discussed in this scenario, the city will close your water main in the street if the 3 day notice is ignored. The city will also charge the homeowner for the work associated with excavating to turn off the water.
