Yesterday we got a call about water leaking into the basement where the water pipe enters the building. In any other town in America, a plumber would check the water meter to see if it's turning, which would indicate a leak.
But Bellingham is special. Only a few homes in the city limits have actual water meters. People pay a flat rate for their water (often more than they would pay for metered water) and the city's water shut-off is ancient and deep in the ground.
But....Bellingham is installing water meters with proper shut-offs in new homes, major remodels, and retro-fitting the rest. The retrofit is due to be completed by 2017...none too soon for this plumber.
Anyway, back to yesterday's drama. I found the meter box, sans meter, and called the COB Water Department and asked them why the meter wasn't installed. The question was snarky because I know the reason lies in the database not being ready and the house had a major remodel a few years ago, accounting for the meter box.
What they did do was send Rick out with a meter. Rick installed the meter in minutes, we checked for leaks, no leaks were found, and uninstalled the meter.
There wasn't a leak; just one heck of a lot of ground water. The water meter box was full of water when I lifted the lid and it filled back up in 30 minutes.
Kudos to Rick and COB Water. They saved the homeowners hundreds of dollars.
While we were there at the house, we unclogged a sink stoppage, cleaned some aerators and checked the systems all for under $200.00 including the tax (90 minutes, no parts or equipment used).
Picture 1 is the water meter vault all ready for the new meter.
Picture 2 is the temporary meter that helped determine there wasn't a leak.
