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Toilets can be flushed by pouring a bucket quickly into the bowl, but most likely they would leave the cover off and pour the water into the tank to flush. people on wells often keep a few gallons in the bathroom in case of a power outage.
Here in Seattle, the owner is ultimately responsible for the utility bills, and the city can put a lean on the property for unpaid bills, whether in the tenant's name or the owner's. As a commercial landlord, I get a letter from the city when a tenant's utility bill is late. If that's not the way your city does it, I would definitely recommend contacting the landlord.
people living without water and that would steal from neighbors are probably not what the landlord is looking for.
The city can put a lien on your property for unpaid water bills in the name of the tenant ?That sounds pretty scary . I do not think they can do that here but I will check if they can do it if it is in the name of the owner.
Update everyone: their water was turned back on yesterday . I saw the water company truck pull up and do it. They have also confirmed to my other neighbor ( the one they stole water from) that it is back on .
That is a good thing but we are not taking the lock of our faucets just yet. I have been told that this is not the first time they have not had water. They were starting to drive me crazy. Last week the neighbor with no water came over to my house in the morning to tell me there was a huge water leak coming from my water meter in the sidewalk and sure enough the sidewalk was wet and when I opened it the meter in the ground it was full of water. Luckily the problem was coming from the pipes attached to the empty house next door to me and not my house. We suspect they were trying to turn on the water to that house in the middle of the night to steal water and did not realize the water company had removed the meter and pipes in there connected to the empty house causing the meter area to flood when they turned the water on. I called the water company and they came out and fixed it. They also found a very small cut in one part of the pipes that were still connected to that house. I was so worried that it would affect my water. I feel so relieved it did not affect my plumbing and feel glad that they have resolved their water problems .
Thanks for all of your advice
Last edited by vanguardisle; 03-22-2016 at 09:34 AM..
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It's amazing what people will do to keep the water on and still avoid paying their overdue water bill. I worked for a major provider in the San Francisco Bay Area for 17 years, 5 of those in the field dealing with this. We put cheap padlocks after turning off for non-payment and people would just break them off with a lug wrench. One guy turned it back on and packed bricks and blocks of wood tightly (hammered) into the meter box around the meter and valve. I spent 1/2 hour getting that all out, turned it back off, sheared off the curb **** and put everything back in as I had found it. They finally paid two days later. Eventually we would pull the meter (additional $50 to put it back) and some would connect with a radiator hose and clamps, after that we dig up the street and kill it at the main.
I had a neighbor stealing water from me. I had struggling grass for a lawn and two trees, they had a grand lush lawn, trees, flowers and I would see where the water ran down the gutter in the street a few days a week when coming home after work. I came home sick one day at 11:00 am and when I got in my house I could hear water running in the pipes in my basement. Finding no open inside faucets I went outside and found they had a hose ran under my fence to their yard! I pulled the hose through my fence, got the sprinkler through also. I stomped the sprinkler beyond usefulness, cut the hose in 1 to 2 foot lengths and threw the pieces back into their yard, all over it. These were neighbors that hardly acknowledged a smile or wave from me when I saw them, I also only had one short conversation when moving in, basically it was me listening to his gripes and unwritten rules he said about the neighborhood. Two water bills later mine had gone down over 55% and stayed there for the rest of the summer. I also told their neighbors on the sides of them about my find that day. moved out that winter and drove by that summer, they had a lawn in as bad a shape as everyone else that lived with the high water prices of that city.
The city can put a lien on your property for unpaid water bills in the name of the tenant ?That sounds pretty scary . I do not think they can do that here but I will check if they can do it if it is in the name of the owner.
Update everyone: their water was turned back on yesterday . I saw the water company truck pull up and do it. They have also confirmed to my other neighbor ( the one they stole water from) that it is back on .
That is a good thing but we are not taking the lock of our faucets just yet. I have been told that this is not the first time they have not had water. They were starting to drive me crazy. Last week the neighbor with no water came over to my house in the morning to tell me there was a huge water leak coming from my water meter in the sidewalk and sure enough the sidewalk was wet and when I opened it the meter in the ground it was full of water. Luckily the problem was coming from the pipes attached to the empty house next door to me and not my house. We suspect they were trying to turn on the water to that house in the middle of the night to steal water and did not realize the water company had removed the meter and pipes in there connected to the empty house causing the meter area to flood when they turned the water on. I called the water company and they came out and fixed it. They also found a very small cut in one part of the pipes that were still connected to that house. I was so worried that it would affect my water. I feel so relieved it did not affect my plumbing and feel glad that they have resolved their water problems .
Thanks for all of your advice
My guess is that when they couldn't steal water from any of the neighbors, they "happened" to find the $$ to pay their water bill.
BTW, my city, too, will put a lien on rental properties (making it the responsibility of the landlord) with unpaid water and electric bills since both are supplied by the city.
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