Thinking this through it occurs to me that it isn’t actually in my interest to wake the sleeping tiger (Saur).
There are obvious benefits to the work they did - for Saur. They can isolate the property and read the meter without needing access. The non-return valve means water from my property cannot flow back and pollute the supply and, if they had moved the meter the demarcation and limit of their responsibility would have shifted from my cellar to just off the street.
At present, should the pipes freeze, it looks like it would be Saur’s job to fix the problem. For sure they would move the meter as well but until then……
Like EDF, I think that Saur have a program of meter replacement in place but IIRC, at our rental property which we used for 6 years, the meter indoors was replaced - not replaced by a new one out in the street.
I think that Saur respect readings by the owner/tenant but in my experience as a property gardien where the meter was inaccessible for some years because of an overgrown bush, they demanded that the foliage be cut back to give them access to the meter otherwise they would cut off the supply from the street to achieve their objectives.
For sure but going back to your comment about insurance, Saur would indeed fix the problem but not necessarily restore your drive to its former glory (weeds included)
@Stella I took Paul’s comment to mean that he reads the meter so there is no need for access by a third party. As I mentioned earlier in the thread (you were probably doing Mr W’s Sunday roast) Saur do seem content on accepting readings from the owner/tenant.
I meant that the advantage to Saur, in general, of the work they did would include being able to read the meter without access needed - obviously in our specific case they did not realise that bit of the advantage.
Nothing a tonne of gravillons and a rake wouldn’t fix
You seen how expensive a tonne of gravillons is?? Add the delivery charge from the quarry (probably more than the material cost) and visits to the kiné to fix your back after…
In dept 24 our water supplier is Sogedo although in dept 87 close by it is Saur. Here Sogedo advised us about 2 years ago that they were about to upgrade our meter which seemed strange as our entire supply system is less than 10 years old. The meter was upgraded and is now read remotely as the meter reader drives by.
Looking at your meter box Paul you are correct in saying that there is a link pipe where the meter should be and perhaps the installation of the box is the first stage towards installing a remotely read meter?
Another thought, a while back a gite we looked after had a leak and Sogedo isolated the supply and advised that until a non return valve was fitted to the house system they could not restore the supply. You say that a non return valve has been installed in the box which as you say is to your advantage and also removes the need for Saur to check if there was one in the house.
How long has the box been in your drive as perhaps work in progress? Things seem to happen at a slower pace here.
Example:
We bought a property here in 2002 and part of the paperwork included a letter from EDF advising that due to proposed road improvements our supply was to be upgraded and rerouted. We sold the property in 2012 and the same EDF letter was passed on to the new owners as the work was still "ongoing ". 2 years ago the road improvements went ahead and the EDF supply to the house upgraded, 17 years later!!
Well, I reckon that a “smart” meter would last just as long as it took for heavy rain to arrive in that box - in fact I’m not sure that it is even good a location for our current meter as I doubt repeated total submersion would do it any good.
The work was done last spring/summer - no sign of anyone since.
@anon88169868 If you ring them up and tell them that it looks like they have a leak in the “regard” (even if you know it not to be true) that they put in, they’ll probably be out pretty sharpish as it is their money they’ll be throwing away. On the otherhand, like you say, they might force you to have the meter moved in that case, with a bigger manhole and appropriate drainage provided at your expense, with the added inconvenience of you then becoming responsible for the whole section up to your house.
