A Queens’s homeowner was issued a DEP 3 day notice for a water main leak on Sunday afternoon. The water leak continued to intensify throughout the roadway, causing a potentially dangerous situation. As per the DEP 3 day notice, the homeowner had to hire a licensed plumber to replace the water line on an emergency basis.
Harris Water was referred by her neighbor who had a water line replaced two years prior. The homeowner decided not to waste any time and hired Harris based on the referral and positive online reviews.
Harris began working at 8AM on Monday morning by digging one hole in the roadway. The new water line installation was expected to be a routine job. The new installation was supposed to be a total of 25 feet of new pipe and Harris was familiar with the good digging conditions in this area of Queens. The soil below ground level was all sand which makes it easier for the new pipe install, as opposed to hard dirt and rocks which takes much more time.
After two hours of pumping water from the hole, Harris finally reached the point where the house connects to the city water main. This is known as the “tap connection”. Harris was quick to realize that the existing copper water line was not damaged at all, the water was leaking at the point where the tap was drilled into the city main.
Leaking tap |
Source of the leak |
Harris now had to contact DEP for an emergency shutdown of the city water main and a new tap installation. The DEP field crew responded within one hour and was on site testing the city water main, before the water was turned off for the entire block. All of the neighboring houses were made aware that they would be without water for up to four hours, as long as the new tap installation went according to plan.
The water was turned off for the entire block and the old tap was extracted from the city water main. Harris now had to supply a sleeve for the city main, to secure the hole from the old tap connection. DEP then drilled a new ¾” tap into the city main before Harris reconnected the existing copper water main to the new tap connection. One very important fact is that the water main was made of copper and not lead, which is common for older homes throughout NYC. If the water line was made of lead, the owner would have had no option to replace the main as well. As per city requirements, it is illegal to perform any type of repair when a lead water main is involved, and must be changed with a new copper main.
DEP installing new tap |
New tap connection |
What was supposed to be a routine water main installation, turned into an all-night event for this Queens homeowner. Most important, Harris was able to work with DEP and resolve what could have been a much worse situation, all in one day
