Deadbeats who pirate water spur new safeguards
Firm serving city plans secure turnoff
Property owners who repeatedly steal water from the city will have a tougher time illegally restoring service that has been turned off due to delinquent bills.
The company that runs Buffalo’s water system has informed the Common Council that it’s intensifying its crusade against water pirates.
A recent review of 237 properties that had water service terminated for nonpayment found that 43 — or 18 percent of the delinquent accounts — had illegally restored their service.
“Due to the escalating number of properties that have been turned back on illegally, we are continuing to trial the new practice of installing a concrete plug in the service box,” American Water wrote in a report that lawmakers will receive at today’s meeting.
Preventing water theft has been identified as a priority for the past two years. Experts estimate that for every 1,000 customers who steal water instead of paying for service, it costs taxpayers $300,000 to $400,000 annually.
When property owners ignore bills for prolonged periods, crews turn off service to those structures. But water turn-on keys — long poles with attachments that activate underground valves — are fairly easy to find. City Public Works Commissioner Steven J. Stepniak said crews have even found people with tire irons that had been welded in a way that allowed them to be used as turn-on keys. Water officials have even heard that some hardware stores rent turn-on devices. Installing a concrete plug in the service box prevents people from circumventing the system.
“We only do this as a last resort, when we have seen several [illegal turn-ons] at the same address,” said Peter J. Merlo, the city’s chief engineer.
Meanwhile, water officials are also stepping up efforts to encourage delinquent customers to enroll in installment payment plans. As of late October, 8,377 properties had active repayment plans with total balances that exceed $6.7 million.
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