Enmax and water service pull

[curves2000]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has experienced this or can offer any advice. About 2 months ago I received a letter from Enmax saying that my house's water meter needed to be replaced, free of charge, as it was an older model.

I was out of town when they came and they replaced the water meter but after they did, the house had really low water pressure according to my tenants. Enmax came back out and attempted to fix the problem from the city's side near where the main shut-off valve was. They were doing some work and than all of a sudden water started spewing out of the main waterline inside the home, exactly where the new water meter was located.

The Enmax tech who was working on the service line from the city's portion ran some sound tests and determined that the main service line from the city to my house had been severed and needed to be replaced. They shut off the water and said a "service pull" was needed before the water could be turned back on.

Long story short I needed to have an excavation company come in and dig into the yard, and replace the main service line. The total cost approached $7000.

The City won't touch it since it's "on private property" but something here doesn't appear correct. A waterline that appeared to be functioning fine for many years all of a sudden cracks after Exmax installs new equipment and starts pressure testing it? I have had the house since 2005 without any issues, it is an older home though.

Has anybody else had this issue? Thanks!

[calgaryblood]

Isn't the water meter inside the home? Or only in some?

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Isn't the water meter inside the home? Or only in some?

In my case, the water meter is inside the home. The service line is the water line that connects from the city's property to my property and than into my home.

[Ducay]

Likely just a case of the service line had some kind of failure and the disconnect/reconnect of pressure at the street valve was the straw that broke the camels back. I doubt Enmax operating procedures include anything that could cause in-spec lines to rupture (otherwise, ya, it wouldn't be part of their operating practice).

Crappy, but there is a reason it is the homeowner's responsibility over the line.

[Canehdianman]

correlation doesn't imply causation.

Sorry, but I think it's your responsibility.

[Fuzz]

So, where was the water spewing out from? The concrete around the pipe where it comes through the floor? If that is the case I'd suspect when they installed the meter they broke something right at that point as they could have used some force to get everything into place. In which case you could probably have that small section jackhammered out and fix that spot. Be a lot cheaper than $7000. How old is the house/neighborhood?