Legit? DEP water meter/service line extension

Hi friends,
What is up with DEP water meter/service line inspections? We just got a notice requiring this. Our water meter is outside the building and we have had no problems. I think I heard about there being an issue with home owners feeling taken advantage of, i.e. the DEP fined them for things outside of their responsibility or went beyond the traditional scope of an inspection or something like that. Am I just confused? Has anyone gone through this?
Thanks for your advice!

citizenjane

in General Discussion 4 years and 2 months ago

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lui1828 | 4 years and 1 month ago

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Don’t worry about the letter. Just go with the flow.

krobertson

in General Discussion 4 years and 1 month ago

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I got a similar letter from DEP a few years back saying they needed access to inspect my basement meter. I gave them a call and they pretty much said they wanted to replace my ~15 year old meter since older meters can become inaccurate over time and I might be billed for less than I’m using (maybe they thought my bill was too low?). The inspector who came to look at the meter complained how he didn’t understand why DEP keeps wanting him to replace all these meters which are fine. Instead he switched out the head of the meter (the dial etc) with a new one, did a quick test or two to confirm flow and called it a day.

citizenjane | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@lui828, thanks very much! it is probably something like that. we have had some facade work done – maybe the workers touched that wire. Thanks for the reassurance!

lui1828 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I got the same letter from DEP. The water meter is inside my house under the subfloor. There is a wire that connects the meter to an outside transmitter. The wire was chewed up by rodents. DEP was not getting the correct signals to the transmitter. They came and replaced the wire. It’s not a scam. They will read your meter and make any billing correction.

citizenjane | 4 years and 2 months ago

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@slimc, Thanks. That’s a good idea.

slimc | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Check your water usage online to see if there has been strange activity. Or go stare at the water meter and see if it’s spinning when the water is off. Since they bill quarterly, maybe they detected a leak you haven’t noticed yet and want to check it out?

citizenjane | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I think the complaints I heard were something like that DEP can charge you to repair the pipes that go from your home to the mains and that was questionable.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Ceci: when we go off the grid.

ceci | 4 years and 2 months ago

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I mean I feel the utilities are intruding in our homes more and more; when will it stop!!!

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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That junction blvd address is dep. Sounds legit. Thats them.

citizenjane | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Here is the letter, with personal details removed. [IMG_0524](//muut.com/u/brownstoner/s1/:brownstoner:ohmc:img_0524.jpg.jpg)

citizenjane | 4 years and 2 months ago

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Hi @BoredAtWork and @doorsbythetinkerswagon, Yes, I believe these are really coming from the NYC DEP. (full heading, DEP account # BBL info, owners name, etc.). And I even got a follow up letter a month later (yesterday), saying it is mandatory to set it up. Will try to post the image later, but am working (?) now.

andriywww1990 | 4 years and 2 months ago

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my first thought is this is from some scam sales people trying to put one over on unknowing people.

can you make a copy of the letter and cross out your details and post it here?

i got a robo call a couple weeks back from “my utility company with an apology”. i press 1 to speak to a rep and i asked who he was calling from and he said “con edison”. I said you are full of dung and if i find out where are calling from i will call the Attorney General’s office. He shouted “f*** you” and put the phone down. it used to be that scam artists were ashamed as to what they were doing for a living. now they curse at us! (con ed’s legal team took a statement from me).

helen40

in General Discussion 4 years and 2 months ago

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Is your meter outside or just the grey transmitter box? Not sure why DEP would need permission to inspect anything on the outside of your property. Is the notice actually from the New York City DEP or someone else trying to sell you something like water and sewer line insurance? Good luck