Hey Orangebloods! Sorry for the OT post but I was looking to get some help for a problem my aunt is having with the city of San Antonio water utility.
Here is the issue: My aunt built her house in North West San Antonio almost 50 years ago in a neighborhood that was pretty rural at the time. Municipal water was not available so she, along with other houses in the area, drilled individual wells for water. Aside from occasional maintenance, the well has provided water for the house with no issues. Due to the current drought in SA, the well ran dry this past Thanksgiving. She contracted a well service and their recommendation was to cap the well and hook up to city water. She just received a proposal from a civil engineering firm in SA and the quote is approximately $40k to do this. The proposal is based on direction from the city water utility (SAWS) and here is the part I don't understand: Her house is a corner house at the end of the block and her street has an existing city water main running the length of the street that dead ends at her immediate neighbor's house (they have city water). Rather than tap into the dead end one house over, the city wants my Aunt to pay to "loop the water main", which is essentially running a parallel water main on the opposite side of the street and connecting it to the existing main and then allowing her to connect to the new line. As an engineer, I understand why you would want to do this (redundancy in case of a water main break or a fire) but what I don't understand is why it is my Aunt's responsibility to pay for this.
Do any of you guys have any experience with this type of issue? I was hoping there are some civil engineers on the board that could advise. At a minimum, we are going to get another quote for the work but I was wondering if there was an appeal process for the type of work the city is proposing since it does not seem to be necessary.
Thanks in advance!
Here is the issue: My aunt built her house in North West San Antonio almost 50 years ago in a neighborhood that was pretty rural at the time. Municipal water was not available so she, along with other houses in the area, drilled individual wells for water. Aside from occasional maintenance, the well has provided water for the house with no issues. Due to the current drought in SA, the well ran dry this past Thanksgiving. She contracted a well service and their recommendation was to cap the well and hook up to city water. She just received a proposal from a civil engineering firm in SA and the quote is approximately $40k to do this. The proposal is based on direction from the city water utility (SAWS) and here is the part I don't understand: Her house is a corner house at the end of the block and her street has an existing city water main running the length of the street that dead ends at her immediate neighbor's house (they have city water). Rather than tap into the dead end one house over, the city wants my Aunt to pay to "loop the water main", which is essentially running a parallel water main on the opposite side of the street and connecting it to the existing main and then allowing her to connect to the new line. As an engineer, I understand why you would want to do this (redundancy in case of a water main break or a fire) but what I don't understand is why it is my Aunt's responsibility to pay for this.
Do any of you guys have any experience with this type of issue? I was hoping there are some civil engineers on the board that could advise. At a minimum, we are going to get another quote for the work but I was wondering if there was an appeal process for the type of work the city is proposing since it does not seem to be necessary.
Thanks in advance!
