WhatsApp groups on Long Island and the Five Towns are all abuzz with questions regarding letters they have received from Liberty Water demanding that each homeowner with an in-ground sprinkler system install a shutoff valve to their water supply immediately.
Of course, the first question on these sites, together with a snapshot of the letter they received, is “Do we have to do this?” and “Why do we have to do this?” and “Why isn’t Liberty Water doing this on their own?”
All good questions! As to the first question, the answer is yes, you must install the shutoff valve, and you are also responsible for having it inspected and certified every five years.
As to “Why do we have to do this?” Liberty Water claims that this is mandatory in case the water from your sprinkler system goes backwards into the pipes and possibly contaminates the water supply. So now for my question: “If in the last fifty-plus years that people have had in-ground sprinkler systems, no one has ever heard of this happening, why would it happen now?” The answer is: Your guess is as good as mine!
What I do know is that I wish our water was still being supplied by NY American Water, which was a more efficient and customer-oriented water company than Liberty Water.
For Liberty Water to be putting the burden of these installations on the individual homeowners at costs ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 is the height of obscene when Liberty Water could have done all these installations themselves at a fraction of the cost given the number of households who need the installation and the huge discounted rates they could have negotiated with a third party vendor to have these installs taken care of, with the costs absorbed by Liberty Water. What a disgrace!
National Grid is now in the process of installing sensors on all the gas meters in Long Island as a similar type of prevention of gas leakage in an emergency, and to its credit, did not put the burden of these costs on the homeowners, but rather just arranged with each homeowner at its expense to make an appointment with the third-party installer who would take care of the sensor installation.
We can only hope that we will not have to suffer many years with the services of Liberty Water, and in the near future, they will sell their water rights to a different company with better values towards customer care and relations.
In the interim, for anyone who did receive this letter, I’m sorry to have to tell you but it’s really mandatory for you to have this shutoff valve installed on your water supply system and yes, in addition, you must make sure that your installer has it inspected and certified once complete. n
Anessa Cohen lives in Cedarhurst and is a Licensed Real Estate Broker (Anessa V Cohen Realty) with over 20 years of experience offering full service residential, commercial and management real estate services in the 5 towns of Long Island as well as the tri-state area . She can be reached at 516-569-5007 or Readers are encouraged to send any questions or scenarios by email to anessa@avcrealty.com.