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There are some neighbors on our street that have been seen stealing water from two other neighbors across from me. I have not seen them stealing from me but I wonder if they are. Not sure if their water has been completely turned off or if they are just having trouble paying the bill.
One of the neighbors who they were stealing from bought caps for two of the outdoor faucets on his house ( he has 3 ) but they are on very tightly and need a pliers to be taken off to use the water. Now he can only use water from one place outside of his house. He says his water bill has gone down a lot since then.
That will not work for me I need to be able to use my water . I found some links to water faucet locks and wonder if anyone has ever used them before and if they will work?
How should I handle this? Should I talk to them about it ? They are nice people for the most part but I can't have them stealing water from me. There may be organizations here in the county that can help them pay their water bill. I feel bad for them but if they keep doing this they may end up getting arrested. I do not want that to happen.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I worked for a water district for 17 years, and we ran into this a few times where people whose water had been turned off for non-payment ran a hose from the neighbor's back yard faucet, under the fence to theirs, effectively
providing water to their whole house with the meter off. When investigating their high bill and finding that, we would advise them to call the police but also the health department, as it's a code violation. If your neighbors are just filling up jugs, you would need pictures or video for the police to bother getting involved, and it's just petty theft. A gallon in most places is only worth about $0.07 based on a cost of $5/CCF. You also risk retaliation, at minimum unpleasant relationships with those neighbors. The locks work, but are fairly easy to break off.
I worked for a water district for 17 years, and we ran into this a few times where people whose water had been turned off for non-payment ran a hose from the neighbor's back yard faucet, under the fence to theirs, effectively
providing water to their whole house with the meter off. When investigating their high bill and finding that, we would advise them to call the police but also the health department, as it's a code violation. If your neighbors are just filling up jugs, you would need pictures or video for the police to bother getting involved, and it's just petty theft. A gallon in most places is only worth about $0.07 based on a cost of $5/CCF. You also risk retaliation, at minimum unpleasant relationships with those neighbors. The locks work, but are fairly easy to break off.
Thanks for the reply. I talked to the neighbor who they are stealing water from and he says those neighbors currently have no water at their house that it was turned off months ago. I did buy a faucet lock today . I think it will be enough of a deterrent to keep them from taking water. They will probably choose places where it is easy plus if they break the lock it will be proof they are stealing water. We do have some of the highest water and sewer prices in all of Florida where I live so I have to be careful. It will be kind of a hassle but hopefully it will be worth it.
Have a plumber install electrically controlled solenoid valve in your cellar. Then you can switch on the water from inside your house when you want to use it but close it off when you do not.
Having the municipality supply the water for "free" and collect the cost through a property tax assessment would be another way of avoiding people "stealing" water. Seems to me that cutting off the water to a house can create a tremendous sanitary issue. Without water how do they dispose of the toilet waste? Dump it in the back yard?
Have a plumber install electrically controlled solenoid valve in your cellar. Then you can switch on the water from inside your house when you want to use it but close it off when you do not.
Having the municipality supply the water for "free" and collect the cost through a property tax assessment would be another way of avoiding people "stealing" water. Seems to me that cutting off the water to a house can create a tremendous sanitary issue. Without water how do they dispose of the toilet waste? Dump it in the back yard?
Well we do not have a cellar in Florida . Only a few scattered cities in the north have any kind of basement they are very rare. Can you really have free water and then pay a higher property tax ? I did not know that.
I really do not know what is going on at that house. My neighbor claims that the water company will charge for every month shut off water is not turned back on and so those neighbor's bill has now gotten too high to for them to pay it, or maybe the fees to get it turned on are too high for them? If they keep water in the toilet can it be flushed? Not sure how that works. They may be able to take showers at friend's and family's houses,and I know they do have electricity.
The situation was this: the neighbor across the street from me where they are owns two houses the one he lives in and the one next to him , the house on the other side of the rental home he owns is where the neighbors stealing water live so his rental house is in the middle of his house and theirs. For a few months his rental home sat empty while he was getting it ready to rent out. He would take a hose from his house and connect it to his rental home to do renovations . He noticed that his water bill doubled and at times even tripled during that time. He did not know what was causing it he knew he was not using that much water. He thought he had a leak or that the water company was lying to him.We now think the neighbors were taking the hose and connecting it to their own house. Now the house is rented and the new renters say that there is evidence that someone is stealing their water when they are not home they already accused the neighbors and got into a huge argument. Those same neighbors that have been accused have also actually been seen in the front yard of the landlord neighbor's house when he was not there filling buckets of water. I guess in their mind it is okay because once when they came to him and asked for water he let them fill up and they came and took huge barrels full of water but then he said that was it that one time was all he could offer and no more, however I think they keep coming back anyway. He now has a clamp on two of his outdoor faucets and his water bill is back to normal . I showed him the faucet lock I bought and I think he will buy one.They have never been seen at my house but I decided to be protected.
Last edited by vanguardisle; 03-07-2016 at 07:56 AM..
Well we do not have a cellar in Florida . Only a few scattered cities in the north have any kind of basement they are very rare. Can you really have free water and then pay a higher property tax ? I did not know that.
I really do not know what is going on at that house. My neighbor claims that the water company will charge for every month shut off water is not turned back on and so those neighbor's bill has now gotten too high to for them to pay it, or maybe the fees to get it turned on are too high for them? If they keep water in the toilet can it be flushed? Not sure how that works. They may be able to take showers at friend's and family's houses,and I know they do have electricity.
The situation was this: the neighbor across the street from me where they are owns two houses the one he lives in and the one next to him , the house on the other side of the rental home he owns is where the neighbors stealing water live so his rental house is in the middle of his house and theirs. For a few months his rental home sat empty while he was getting it ready to rent out. He would take a hose from his house and connect it to his rental home to do renovations . He noticed that his water bill doubled and at times even tripled during that time. He did not know what was causing it he knew he was not using that much water. He thought he had a leak or that the water company was lying to him.We now think the neighbors were taking the hose and connecting it to their own house. Now the house is rented and the new renters say that there is evidence that someone is stealing their water when they are not home they already accused the neighbors and got into a huge argument. Those same neighbors that have been accused have also actually been seen in the front yard of the landlord neighbor's house when he was not there filling buckets of water. I guess in their mind it is okay because once when they came to him and asked for water he let them fill up and they came and took huge barrels full of water but then he said that was it that one time was all he could offer and no more, however I think they keep coming back anyway. He now has a clamp on two of his outdoor faucets and his water bill is back to normal . I showed him the faucet lock I bought and I think he will buy one.They have never been seen at my house but I decided to be protected.
I think the faucet locks should be enough to discourage them from stealing your water; seems like your neighbors don't actually want anyone to know they're stealing water so they shouldn't be willing to actually break a lock to steal water. If I were you, I would also talk to other neighbors you know within a couple block radius and warn them to also get faucet locks as well.
The bigger concern with me is if they're living in a house with no running water; then where are they dumping all their waste water and where are they dumping their human waste? If I were you I would see if you can make an anonymous complaint to the health department and get them to come out and inspect the house. Depending on where your neighbors are dumping their waste, you could have a big problem in the making for you and your other neighbors.
The situation was this: the neighbor across the street from me where they are owns two houses the one he lives in and the one next to him , the house on the other side of the rental home he owns is where the neighbors stealing water live so his rental house is in the middle of his house and theirs.
I get that, but are the thieves renters as well?
If homeowners, I'd turn them in to the city.
If renters, I'd alert their landlord as this is almost certainly a lease violation. Many LLs insist utility bills be paid and a shutoff is grounds for eviction.
I think the faucet locks should be enough to discourage them from stealing your water; seems like your neighbors don't actually want anyone to know they're stealing water so they shouldn't be willing to actually break a lock to steal water. If I were you, I would also talk to other neighbors you know within a couple block radius and warn them to also get faucet locks as well.
The bigger concern with me is if they're living in a house with no running water; then where are they dumping all their waste water and where are they dumping their human waste? If I were you I would see if you can make an anonymous complaint to the health department and get them to come out and inspect the house. Depending on where your neighbors are dumping their waste, you could have a big problem in the making for you and your other neighbors.
That may be an option to call the health department . I think they probably keep the toilet filled with water enough to be able to flush it because if they were dumping waste it would become noticeable to the nearby neighbors. I think they do prefer people not know they are stealing water but now I think there is a standoff, I think at this point they know we know they are stealing water, my neighbor is a kind man and generous but they also know he can only be pushed so far.
Last edited by vanguardisle; 03-07-2016 at 10:41 AM..
If renters, I'd alert their landlord as this is almost certainly a lease violation. Many LLs insist utility bills be paid and a shutoff is grounds for eviction.
Yes the neighbors stealing water are renting. The neighbor they were stealing from knows who their landlord is but by all accounts the owner does not really care what they do as long as they pay his rent every month. The neighbors stealing water have complained to me in the past about him not fixing anything. I suppose we could try to contact him.They are also subletting the place to a variety of people that seem to come and go.
Yes the neighbors stealing water are renting. The neighbor they were stealing from knows who their landlord is but by all accounts the owner does not really care what they do as long as they pay his rent every month. The neighbors stealing water have complained to me in the past about him not fixing anything. I suppose we could try to contact him.They are also subletting the place to a variety of people that seem to come and go.
I would definitely contact the landlord. The landlord may not care much about the house, but not having running water for many months could potentially do a lot of damage to the plumbing, water heater, and other appliances in the house. Plus, if they're carrying buckets of water all over the house to refill the toilet and other purposes, they could be causing a lot of expensive water damage to the flooring. I would think the landlord should at least be informed about the situation as they may not know and this situation might be enough for them to start the process of removing these tenants.
I still think you should put in anonymous calls to the health department and any other government agency that might be able to do something about this.
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