11978 Water leaks and regulations

Hello,
we have had a house in the Marche for 20 years now and during this time we've often had water cut off during the summer. However, in the past this used to happen for a day or so and often would come back on again for at least a few hours a day so with a bit of luck we could have our showers and get sorted.
However, last year we went and for the entire week had no water. It seems that the leaks have got so bad that they are not even filling the tanks our neighbours have and they too suffered from a lack of any water. A tanker from the water company came up delivering water.
We planned on getting a water tank installed this year although it won't be much use if it never actually gets filled.
Anyway, my question is does anyone know anything about what our rights are? Does the water company have an obligation to supply mains water? We always pay our water rates.
Our house is a very small one on a mountain in the Province of Macerata, in a village of about 4 houses only so we're not exactly in a position to form a large protest group...
I would be grateful if anyone with any similar experiences could share them or offer any advice on the best course of action.

Many thanks
Dan.

Category
Building/Renovation

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/22/2009 - 04:00

If you are connnected to mains water and there is no supply for a period (the length of which is decided by the comune) the comune will pay for an autobotte to come and deliver water. At least thats how it works here - though the period you have to be without water can be anything from 2 days to 2 weeks.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 03/22/2009 - 13:35

Thanks Ram,
Our commune is providing lorries I think now, especially as there seems to be no mains supply now to the village throughout the year. I'd just like to get some mains supply restored. Maybe we'll go to the commune this year and see what their plans are.

Thanks Dan.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/23/2009 - 12:59

It occurs to me that in Umbria, (and most probably every where else), you pay for the amount of water you use from the mains? So when you say that you are paying your water rates, what exactly are you paying for? Check your bills for a start.

Are you able to get permission to dig a well?

Here a tanker of water last summer cost friends about 170 euros. So if you are there for a very short stay the tanker is possibly a cheaper option.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 03/23/2009 - 20:34

I recall replying to piedmontphil on a similar query - basically the imperative is for a comune to (by law) supply water to everybody. It was a short thread, so check piedontphils posts (or I'll try to check it out later - it refers to the relevant legge, probably EU). Anyway, they have an obligation, so if they will not afford the necessary pumps, get together with your neighbours and insist that the comune digs/drills a 'communal' well, or upgrades their pumps. This is your right, so push it.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 05:52

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 06:16

JC I am sure that prices in Umbria and Toscana are higher for most things but that's what they paid. It included delivery, which was up a white road, quite away, away from a main road.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 16:46

digging a well was an idea we considered aswell ....until we got a quote. It all depends on how deep below your property the water table is. We put up with being cut off in Summer on a regular basis by filling up every possible recepticle first thing in the mornto tide us through the day. A village we once lived in was cut off for a week and we were moving out to another rented property - had to go back to do the washing up

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 03/24/2009 - 18:35

Thanks for this Charles - I have found the post you mentioned and I'll have a look at the page in detail. It will be good to find out if the water board can claim they are meeting their requirements by providing a tanker. I think our neighbours are also going to get on the case so hopefully we can get somewhere.
My impression from reading here and elsewhere on the well does seem to be it would be expensive, but like others say, that depends on depth etc.
Thanks to everyone who has replied.

Dan.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 04/02/2009 - 03:39

It's really good to hear other people having a similar problem. We were cut off for up to four days at a time for several times during last year including the hot summer. The fact that we had a new born baby in December and no water to run our heating did not interest the water board much. They still wouldn't come out at weekends to fix a pump in the reservoir which has been playing up for years. We are expecting the same to happen this year and I am quite prepared to get a solicitor on to them in the future as we are setting up a holiday business and cannot afford having guests stay without running water for days on end. Any advice on what can be done legally would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
Jana