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Comment by evan_ | Hacker News Reader

My friend had some kind of washer hose burst in his house when he was away for the weekend. The damage was minimal (it was in his unfinished basement) but the water company, detecting a large amount of water being used, came by and shut his water off.

"Oh but that's different" - not really. Same thing would have happened if my friend was intentionally trying to fill his basement with water.

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I suspect that would not have been a problem. The water company guy rings at your friends door:

Water Company Guy: "Just checking, we think there might be a burst pipe around here somewhere. Have you noticed some flooding?"

Your friend: "No. I'm just filling up my pool however, but everything is fine."

Company guy: "Ah, ok. Excellent. Have a nice day!"

Well it was a couple years ago, but I do remember specifically that they didn't even call him. He actually realized there was no water before he discovered that his basement was damp and eventually figured it out. It could be that they knocked on his door, and; receiving no answer, assumed it was a leak.

Anyway this would be an easy question to answer if someone called a water utility and asked.

I was cleaning and fixing up a house after its owner had died. One of the first things I did was arrange to get the water turned back on, but it took two tries, because the first time the man who connected it turned it back off because water was running immediately--I had not closed the valve to the water heater which started filling.

They are good like that.

> "Oh but that's different" - not really. Same thing would have happened if my friend was intentionally trying to fill his basement with water.

Sure, but if he called and stated that, they'd likely turn it back on and bill him for the usage.

What about a pool?

(not relevant to the article, but...) when you fill a pool, generally you call the water company and they'll hook a meter to a fire hydrant. This will fill a lot faster then a 1" home service, and you also won't be charged for sewer as well as the water. This can save significant money, since, at least where I live, sewer fees are about 8x the actual water cost.

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