Water Line Inside Sewer Pipe

**ballvalve** · 05-09-2011, 10:39 AM

The problem is how do you really know that the sewer line is damaged? If you sue and you are wrong, you will have a huge bill to pay.

**Allen W McFay** · 05-13-2011, 05:41 PM

Use a camera snake?

**rugoofy** · 05-14-2011, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by ballvalve

The problem is how do you really know that the sewer line is damaged? If you sue and you are wrong, you will have a huge bill to pay.

I know that the water line is in the sewer pipe because I had a plumber put a camera snake in the sewer line and it showed a hole about 2-3 ft long and you could see the water line the entire length of the hole. When i had the camera put inn the sewer line the contractor that had the water line installed was there and admitted to doing it but said its not her fault because she had no way of knowing that it was there because both j.u.l.i.e. and the sanitation dept. didn't tell her about it.

**ballvalve** · 05-17-2011, 10:57 AM

Tell it to the judge - She will get a quick education in digging and fixing.

**Terry** · 05-17-2011, 05:46 PM

If you were to take this to small claims court, I would think you would get a judgment that would comp you for the repair.
It's quick and easy, and you don't need a lawyer. Then you could find a plumber that could fix the problem once and for all.

However, there must not be any lawyers that read this stuff, or perhaps it's just that lawyers don't give it out for free.
When my father was living, I could just ask him.
My simple course of action would be small claims, pick up the judgment money and continue on. Course it may not be that simple.
Read this little nugget from the Seattle area to find out how crazy neighbors can get.

Little crazy story about neighbors.
Neighbor's dispute escalates into all-out legal war

**SacCity** · 05-17-2011, 06:37 PM

I had a neighbor who had put their driveway on my property 5 feet wide and 100 feet long.
It was a rental so I didn't much care but did not want to loose my property. I had offered to rent it her for $100, per year, then $50, and finally $5. A year of working with her to move the fence. First she said that she would, several months later, I offered to split the cost with her, finally I agreed to pay all cost. I showed up with a crew and materials, at which point she refused to let me work and called her lawyer. Six long hard years, later we resolved the issue. Initially before things got really ugly her title insurance was going to pay for the work. But she fought and played games, the result being that the insurance backed out and left her with the bill. I received payments from her for a long time.... But she did pay off the judgment.

Michael
SacCityPlumbing.com

**ballvalve** · 05-18-2011, 11:08 AM

Never buy less than 5 acres, and be sure of no view to your house from anywhere. Live long and prosper!

Keep a BIG German Shepherd inside. You will never need a lawyer or become a statistic. A small pocket pistol helps too.

**bulldog plumbing** · 05-26-2011, 08:23 PM

illinois plumbing code calls for a vertical separation of the sewer and water in the same trench of at least 18 inches. get a camera down the sewer to record the problem and then, sounds like it's off to court. if the contractor had it julie'd, if i understand it correctly, they still have to fix the problem, but julie picks up the tab.

**rugoofy** · 05-28-2011, 12:37 AM

Thanks for all the help everyone. Since my last post I found out that the city I live in, Rockford, IL has a Property Standards Dept. whose job it is to enforce building/plumbing codes and have contacted them about this. I now have people in the Property Standards Dept., Permit Dept., Sanitation Dept. and Water Dept. working on this problem for me. I also have the direct phone # to the Superintendent of the Water Dept. Last Thursday they decided to tell my neighbor that she has 5 days to fix the problem or her water will be shut off. Friday morning my neighbor finally called me to talk to me about the sewer line for the first time since I first told her about it last January. Up until this morning I have been the one calling her to try to get her to do something about this and calling her plumber to try to get her to fix it was well. Its amazing what I have had to do just to get her to call her plumber to fix what they broke. Unfortunately her plumber doesn't think its her fault and wants us to pay for part of the repairs. So my neighbors water line will probably be shut off next week. The Water Dept. told me if my neighbor doesn't get it fixed and they have to go out there to shut off the water line, they will do some water quality tests in the area and if they find any contaminants they will fix the sewer line themselves and make my neighbor pay for it. If they don't find any contaminants then they will basically go from one dept. to the next until one of them can up with something that will legally allow them to go onto their property and fix the sewer line.

**rugoofy** · 05-28-2011, 12:56 AM

"if the contractor had it julie'd, if i understand it correctly, they still have to fix the problem, but julie picks up the tab. "

In Rockford, IL J.U.L.I.E. only does locates for electric, gas and cable lines. You have to go to the sanitation dept. to get a locate for a sewer line but because of the age of the houses where I live (80+ years old) and how poorly the records have been kept for the area, the sanitary dept. will not give locations for the private sewer lines in my area. However I believe it is still the plumbers responsibility to locate the sewer line by hiring a locator to locate it for them.

**rugoofy** · 05-30-2011, 06:19 PM

You're right Terry its not that simple. I talked to a lawyer about it and was told that since my neighbor was the one who hired the plumber she would have to be the one to take the plumber to court and since my neighbor hasn't been willing to do anything I would have to take her to court to which would then force her to take the plumber to court. Its a big mess. I finally figured out that Rockford has a dept. called property standards whose job it is to enforce building/plumbing codes and they got with the water dept. and told my neighbor that she has 5 days to fix the pipe or her water will be shut off.

**rugoofy** · 05-30-2011, 08:38 PM

You can see the video of my sewer line on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STzzJM-Xtxo. You'll have to fast forward to about 104 ft to see the pipe, before that its all black because its going through sewage.