Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 141567	2016-01-13 05:52:00	Something entirely different....................like being in the shite big time!.	Billy T (70)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1414383	2016-01-13 05:52:00	We live on a steeply sloping section and the main sewer-line crosses the bottom of our property, well inside our boundary. Using the Watercare 'GIF Viewer' we can locate all the manholes and individual connections in our street up from the main trunk line, and all of the laterals that run off that line to serve individual residences. These laterals are shown with various lengths with curves and dog-legs in some places but WaterCare claim that these are representative only, and say that the Council's responsibility stops at the first joint. Our property hosts the main sewer line as well as the lateral that runs up our back yard. Our problem is that we have had very limited waste-water service for over two weeks now, because there are tree roots jamming up the lateral pipe and flow is severely restricted. That was in part a consequence of hosting the wider family Xmas day, and also because a number of wet-wipes got flushed down the dunny (that we didn't know about!) so that hasn't helped either. We originally called in a Plumber (PlumbQuick) to replace the pipeline from our end down to the notional connection to the Council's line, which they did in short order, but they declined to carry the pipe any further as they were concerned that they would be encroaching on Watercare's territory. Instead they ran their camera down the pipeline and marked out with fluoro pink (on the surface) where the damaged pipes and joints were located to assist Watercare, if and when they turned up. Since then we have made a succession of phone calls trying to get Watercare to come to the party, but it seems that no single person has responsibility and we get passed from pillar to post as a different employee appears every time, each with a new story. Yesterday it was a poor guy lugging a massive reel of cable with a camera on the end, but he couldn't get it down the line, it was too big. Then he lugged it in to the bush (we back onto a bush reserve) and looked up the main sewer trunk line. Today we had another team scouring the main trunk, with a similar camera and a truck-mounted reel, but the main sewer trunk is working just fine. All of the service spurs off the main trunk are of different lengths and angles, so in our plumbers' opinion, and ours, that rules out their claim of 'responsibility to the first joint' as all that needed to display from the main trunk would be a short spur. So, has anybody ever received a definitive statement as to the status of these laterals, bcause ours travels at least a third of the way up our section. Cheers Billy 8-{) :confused:	Billy T (70)
1414384	2016-01-13 06:36:00	When we had a problem once, we were told that the councils responsibility stopped at the joint as well. Anything on our property after that would be our cost, so when they had to do some inspections it was right on the joint, I stood there and watched them, when asked how come I said because its your problem and I don't want you making it mine. They guy got the hint ;) BUT have a read of Homeowners-getting-stung-with-surprise-repair-bills-for-wastewater-pipes (www.stuff.co.nz) Almost a bit of a reverse of your problem (you'll get the picture) as well as wellington.govt.nz Click on the link for the PDF in the section "How to get wastewater pipes fixed" gives pictures. "IF" and this is only a guess, but if other properties pipes were coming onto your property, that "should" be the exception as you cant shouldn't be responsible for other peoples usage.	wainuitech (129)
1414385	2016-01-13 06:45:00	Two things Billy . 1: In most jurisdictions your Drainlayer is correct and the first joint off the main should be an “Inspection Joint” and that is yours, and where your responsibility starts and finishes . 2: The main sewer line should be shown on your “Certificate of Title” as an easement . Now, where things get tricky is where you have a set of flats, home units and the like where a number of units connect to a communal drain that is not the Councils, before connecting to the Council Main . However, I’m surprised your Drainlayer has been unable to explain the situation satisfactorily . :confused:	B.M. (505)
1414386	2016-01-14 08:14:00	Well! After waiting nearly two weeks for a repair, and having an absolute comic parade of misinformed Watercare Employees on the phone or doorstep, all good people, just sent up the garden path by the system . One lot waterblasted the main sewer line for the street, another turned up with a camera that wouldn't fit down the pipe, and yet another wanted to start in the wrong place when we had already had the fault location marked out in fluorescent pink! . I finally got onto a senior manager and we had a brief session of mutual sparring, then he admitted that some details on the maps were incorrect and he is going to fix them, but he also agreed to do the work per the published details at no charge to us . He acknowledged that they were confusing and that he was responsible for putting them right, and he also took responsibility for the errors . To his credit, he turned up on site in person this morning with a team of plumbers and the job is underway . In fact it is operational on a pro-tem basis until they get back to us . So, we have a working system again but the job is not yet finished, that should be tomorrow . Sheesh! Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1414387	2016-01-14 09:04:00	Good to know your pipes and plumbing will all be working. NOW with your sense of humor Billy, take that which ever way you like :D :lol:	wainuitech (129)
1414388	2016-01-14 23:54:00	Billy, you have just rediscovered some of the facts of life. Judges are for the most part failed Lawyers. Building Inspectors, failed Builders, Electrical Inspectors, failed Electricians, Plumbing Inspectors, failed Plumbers, And Drainage Inspectors, failed Drainlayers. The list is almost endless. :D	B.M. (505)
1414389	2016-01-15 05:14:00	We pay into these bugger, but in the end no one wants to take any responsibility . If you were rich and threatened them with the law, they would fix it quick, these people are bullies, they like to kick the weak.	Cicero (40)
1414390	2016-01-15 09:14:00	Good to know your pipes and plumbing will all be working. NOW with your sense of humor Billy, take that which ever way you like :D :lol: I thank you for, and appreciate, your solicitous thoughts WT, and I must admit that after being given the go-ahead to reactivate our facilities, I did take extreme care when I untied the knots and pulled out the corks! :D I have since found that we have been in a non-compliant hiatus since June 2005. Somebody at the local Council forgot to tell us, and it wasn't picked up when the AK SuperShitty came into being, cos' commonsense went to hell in a handbasket after that! The gentleman who authorised the current repair was kind enough to advise us that our LIM was tagged and we couldn't sell the property until it was recertified (not that we have any intention to sell) but we do have to get that issue sorted. As another rather unexpectedly beneficial byproduct, on finding that the main sewer line actually runs several metres inside a line that we thought was well outside our rear boundary, we have picked up another 5-10 metres of land. We back onto a Council Native Bush Reserve, so all those years of sleepless nights waiting for the knock on the door at midnight, then a posse of masked men dragging me into the Reserve to remove our accumulated lawn mowings etc were totally unneccessary. That's what a overactive conscience does for you! On top of all the other issues, the genius who came here back in June 2005 to survey the street's sewer lines (we didn't know he'd been until yesterday) put a camera down the hardest to find gully trap on our property (even I didn't know it was there), then noted that there was a Y junction several metres down the line that also fed into the trunk pipe down into the main sewer, but he didn't walk around to our back door where a mirror-image gully trap was sitting there in full view and just begging to swallow his camera! So, our LIM was cursed from the start. The expression 'twerp' comes to mind, which you may feel free to change to the epithet of your choice! I knew we had a Y junction but it never crossed my mind to go looking for what fed the damned thing, I was more concerned that it had been buried several feet below the back-fill for our retaining wall, to dig that up would be a major mission. Cheers Billy 8-{) :waughh:	Billy T (70)
1414391	2016-01-18 19:51:00	Note how all the teams were keen to use the tech (cameras) and reluctant to do any digging. SO a lot of apparent work, but zero real progress. Mind you, with a sewer line, who would be keen to dig? And if it's a sewer line on steep ground holding a backlog of funky material... well, guess what can happen when you release the blockage and gravity comes into play again. You may want to always stand uphill from the dig site. ;)	Paul.Cov (425)
1414392	2016-01-19 21:20:00	Final wrap-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We had been left with a temporary service for a few days, then an elderly gentleman in WaterCare overalls turned up yesterday morning, followed by a truck and additional (younger) polynesian bloke . They finished the last of the job, which was also the hardest part, involving the removal of some pretty big tree roots (I was surprised to see the older man digging! I'm not ageist but he seemed too long in the tooth to be doing that kind of work) then when the pipe installation was finished, they used a camera to check the line, then they cleaned up and left . I assume that the line check images will go on file, so all we have to do now is get details of WaterCare's final inspection, then we can get the 'non-compliant' tag removed from our LIM and draw a line across the whole saga . The last three weeks have been a frustrating experience, but top marks must go to WaterCare though, for acknowledging the misinformation in their documentation, agreeing to foot the bill for the repair, and seeing it through to the finish . Having the Manager front-up on site was excellent PR as well . Polite Persistence Proved Productive . :clap Cheers Billy 8-{) :thumbs:	Billy T (70)
1 2