tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9095750659102120237.post7733491029553963758..comments2023-10-15T09:26:58.086-05:00Comments on Woodstock Advocate: 47 leaks in WoodstockGushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09036550825708569102noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9095750659102120237.post-22634353659074113332010-01-02T07:17:38.718-06:002010-01-02T07:17:38.718-06:00Hey Gus -
Generally speaking, both water and sewe...Hey Gus -<br /><br />Generally speaking, both water and sewer lines on your property are owned by you and are your cost to fix - or to to provide as new.<br /><br />Interestingly, I've witnessed free repairs almost always for phone, cable, electricity and gas lines (buried or not) when the failure isn't due to the property owner's negligence, but is simply due to "organic" failure, including soil issues..<br /><br />Water and sewer, on the other hand, not so much. Perhaps the difference is in their charters somewhere, as they're usually municipality-owned utilities?<br /><br />Once sewer is involved though, all kinds of other regulations, state and federal, come into play.<br /><br />If I remember correctly, a long while back in Hoffman Estates, homes located in "Parcel B?", the development that more than doubled the Village back in the 60's and 70's, used a new kind of composite sanitary pipe that ended up failing spectacularly. If memory serves, the Village ended up securing cooperative agreements with the owners and particular vendor(s) which I believe shared costs - you had cash-strapped homeowners, the fact that the Village approved the original pipe spec, you don't want leaky sewage of any sort, etc.<br /><br />Storm water entering and overwhelming the sanitary system, on the otherhand, is a BIG no-no, whether on a State or Federal basis. That's the whole point of the "deep tunnel" project in and around the Cook County suburbs. Otherwise, sanitary operators have little choice other than releasing un-treated sewage into local waterways.<br /><br />This situation is regulated and enforced against the municipality or utility, as they are responsible for that utility. Regardless of cause, there are incredible incentives (fines) for those systems to comply, so it's not unusual for all kinds of cooperative financial arrangements on this score which in the end, are much less costly than if the utility being hard asses (as they directly bear the "costs" of non-compliance as the operators), wherein such policies do little to solve the issue.<br /><br />A bill of many thousands of dollars are usually a hardship for 50% of the homeowners, so officials do the best they can with the situation presented. In the end, as long as the "same" deal is offered to any and all such affected properties - now or in the future - it should pass the "smell" test and is fair to all customers of that utility.<br /><br />DBTRDave Labuzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18008650891183573083noreply@blogger.com