Damage due to water meter installation

ocallaghan12

Hello,

I had my water meter installed early summer (contrary to my wishes, but that's not what this is about) and after a very wet summer I found a fowl stench coming from my drains inside and out, flooding in my back yard and my kitchen with raw sewerage.

After two evenings of using drain rods and no joy at clearing the blockage I mesured the length of the drain rods and found the blockage was where the meter was installed. As I was slow to put the blame on the contractor I got drain clearing company to Jet my drain and he said it's like hitting a wall. Followed up with a cctv inspection and he said there is too much debris. So finally I contacted IW and they sent me photos of the day of installation saying they did not come across any sewer. After a phone call and explaining the evidence I had with the drain rods leading up to and stopping at the point of the work done they agreed to send out a contractor.

The next day they dug down 2inches and found my broken sewer pipe.They repaired it then and there. So the guys who installed the meter dug straight down 3/4 feet through my pipe and blocked it with gravel, took photos of a lovely clean job and finished installing the meter leaving me with a broken swer pipe.

Has anyone else had this experience? What was your outcome? I am contemplating legal action. Taughts?

Kristopherus

Forget about legal action. That will only fill the coffers of the legal eagles. Can you not write to the top guy in IW, and give him the full story. If no reply received, contact your local politico. There's an election coming up.......

ocallaghan12

Kristopherus wrote: »

Forget about legal action. That will only fill the coffers of the legal eagles. Can you not write to the top guy in IW, and give him the full story. If no reply received, contact your local politico. There's an election coming up.......

Thanks for your quick reply, on the day of the repair work which I should have said was carried out on the day they came back (original poster edited) I handed them the bill for the jetting as asked who would pay for this? As I would not have needed it if they didn't break my sewer. I had a fella call today with money for it and he asked me to sign a form releasing them from any further claims. I told him I won't sign it and said about a solicitor and he asked me for a ball park figure. I have no idea so I said I'll have to get legal advice, which I have a meeting about Monday. Do you think I'm wasting my time?

aujopimur

They messed up, you complained, they fixed the problem, they offered to cover your expenses, a satisfactory outcome in my opinion, end of story, get over it.

whupdedo

aujopimur wrote: »

They messed up, you complained, they fixed the problem, they offered to cover your expenses, a satisfactory outcome in my opinion, end of story, get over it.

Exactly , what would you hope to achieve by this op , money in your pocket ? Get over it and move on , your problem is sorted . Everyone is so willing to run to solicitors with every perceived little injustice .

ocallaghan12

aujopimur wrote: »

They messed up, you complained, they fixed the problem, they offered to cover your expenses, a satisfactory outcome in my opinion, end of story, get over it.

Hello, thanks for your input. This was all over a 5 month period. Not sure you would feel the same way having a "septic tank" right beneath your feet seeping into your foundations and when it rains heavily coming up your drains. I'm not having a go at you but I do feel they were neglagent.

ocallaghan12

whupdedo wrote: »

Exactly , what would you hope to achieve by this op , money in your pocket ? Get over it and move on , your problem is sorted . Everyone is so willing to run to solicitors with every perceived little injustice .

Hello, thanks for your Input. Like I said to the other poster I was basically living with a septic tank under my feet for 5-6 months and when it was raining it came up my drains and into my kitchen. I never had a problem like this before the meter and upon installing they knowingly blocked my pipes with gravel. Is this something I should turn a blind eye to? Should I leave it so they can continue doing it to other people? The little injustice you mention had me cleaning up raw sewerage and living with a fowl stench. But I would like to thank you once again for posting as this is what I was looking for, people's taughts on the situation.

my friend

ocallaghan12 wrote: »

Hello,

I had my water meter installed early summer (contrary to my wishes, but that's not what this is about) and after a very wet summer I found a fowl stench coming from my drains inside and out, flooding in my back yard and my kitchen with raw sewerage.

After two evenings of using drain rods and no joy at clearing the blockage I mesured the length of the drain rods and found the blockage was where the meter was installed. As I was slow to put the blame on the contractor I got drain clearing company to Jet my drain and he said it's like hitting a wall. Followed up with a cctv inspection and he said there is too much debris. So finally I contacted IW and they sent me photos of the day of installation saying they did not come across any sewer. After a phone call and explaining the evidence I had with the drain rods leading up to and stopping at the point of the work done they agreed to send out a contractor.

The next day they dug down 2inches and found my broken sewer pipe.They repaired it then and there. So the guys who installed the meter dug straight down 3/4 feet through my pipe and blocked it with gravel, took photos of a lovely clean job and finished installing the meter leaving me with a broken swer pipe.

Has anyone else had this experience? What was your outcome? I am contemplating legal action. Taughts?

They cut my phoneline and hid it too, the guy showed me nice tidy photos that could have been taken anywhere, I eventually got Eircom to dig and lo and behold the section where IW contractors had cut was missing
I was happy to get my phoneline back after 10 days and initiating legal action against Eircom
I hope Eircom were well compensated by IW as Eircom must have spent at least €1000 repairing my lines

ocallaghan12

my friend wrote: »

They cut my phoneline and hid it too, the guy showed me nice tidy photos that could have been taken anywhere, I eventually got Eircom to dig and lo and behold the section where IW contractors had cut was missing
I was happy to get my phoneline back after 10 days and initiating legal action against Eircom
I hope Eircom were well compensated by IW as Eircom must have spent at least €1000 repairing my lines

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, exactly the same thing here with the photos, I said it to the guy that it could be any dig they had done. It's not good enough to leave it like that and it's beyond me how they thought they would get away with it.

gctest50

aujopimur wrote: »

They messed up, you complained, they fixed the problem, they offered to cover your expenses, a satisfactory outcome in my opinion, end of story, get over it.

not even near "fixed" - what about all the tonnes of earth in the garden that is soaked in sewage ?

needs to be dug out, removed to a disposal site, "new" soil brought in, grass etc

ocallaghan12

gctest50 wrote: »

not even near "fixed" - what about all the tonnes of earth in the garden that is soaked in sewage ?

needs to be dug out, removed to a disposal site, "new" soil brought in, grass etc

Thankfully my back yard is tiled, but God knows what has seeped into the foundations and trough the tiled area. There is no telling if there is further damage to my sewer lines as they run under my house. It's all well and good for people to say get over it and sign a form releasing the contracter from future claims when the original damage may have cause more issues farther up the pipes. Good to see some people agreeing with me thanks for the input.

Calahonda52

Will they only bill u for water as the waste water was not getting to the sewer:D

Having said that, given whats going down in Hungary, Austria, we have bigger issues to worry about

ocallaghan12

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Will they only bill u for water as the waste water was not getting to the sewer:D

Having said that, given whats going down in Hungary, Austria, we have bigger issues to worry about

Haha ya I taught of that too.

Your second point is very true, puts in perspective my extreamly minor issue in comparasent.

Kristopherus

ocallaghan12 wrote: »

Thanks for your quick reply, on the day of the repair work which I should have said was carried out on the day they came back (original poster edited) I handed them the bill for the jetting as asked who would pay for this? As I would not have needed it if they didn't break my sewer. I had a fella call today with money for it and he asked me to sign a form releasing them from any further claims. I told him I won't sign it and said about a solicitor and he asked me for a ball park figure. I have no idea so I said I'll have to get legal advice, which I have a meeting about Monday. Do you think I'm wasting my time?

I don't think you will get a free consultation on Monday. Now that you have expanded, I would be looking for a full examination of all possible sites where that effluent may have seeped. Do not sign anything from IW, until they have fully assessed any possible damage, to your satisfaction. You could always add a note to what you may sign, saying something like "provided no further adverse effects have occured until..." and insert your timeline there. There's no telling the king of wet weather we may have over the coming months.

Bottom line is: Make IW pay, and pay well. They damaged your sewer. Its their responsibility.

ocallaghan12

Kristopherus wrote: »

I don't think you will get a free consultation on Monday. Now that you have expanded, I would be looking for a full examination of all possible sites where that effluent may have seeped. Do not sign anything from IW, until they have fully assessed any possible damage, to your satisfaction. You could always add a note to what you may sign, saying something like "provided no further adverse effects have occured until..." and insert your timeline there. There's no telling the king of wet weather we may have over the coming months.

Bottom line is: Make IW pay, and pay well. They damaged your sewer. Its their responsibility.

You make a great point,when I am speaking the the scoilator I will add in my future worrys to the conversation as I had not taught to mention them to her, this is why I brought it to this site for helpful advice,whigh I have received from you and a couple of other posters. Thanks a million.

whupdedo

ocallaghan12 wrote: »

. It's not good enough to leave it like that and it's beyond me how they thought they would get away with it.

They knew they wouldn't get away with it , but they also knew that by the time it would be found , they would have moved onto to another job , that's what you get when you pay working men a minimum wage for a 12 hour day .
Not your problem I realise , but if IW had paid proper rates to these companies their would be far less complications and your problem is probably only the tip of the iceberg as to what really went on when they were installing metres

ocallaghan12

whupdedo wrote: »

They knew they wouldn't get away with it , but they also knew that by the time it would be found , they would have moved onto to another job , that's what you get when you pay working men a minimum wage for a 12 hour day .
Not your problem I realise , but if IW had paid proper rates to these companies their would be far less complications and your problem is probably only the tip of the iceberg as to what really went on when they were installing metres

I have heard from other local people the shoddy work involved, such as cementing over manholes. like they say "you pay peanuts you get monkeys"