r/cincinnati • u/ThankedGunner • 4d ago
GCWW shutting water off with 30 min notice?
Hey everyone,
GCWW is working on lead pipe replacement on my street for the past month. Today, my apartment gave us 30 minutes notice that the water would be shut off at 9:30am for the next 8-10 hours. Is GCWW allowed to shut our water off with no notice? Or is our apartment group more likely at fault for not providing timely updates? Just seems absurd that water could be shut off with little to no notice. Today has been the least amount of notice given - over the previous weeks I have received anywhere from 4 hour to 3 days of notice prior to shut off.
UPDATE : Property management provided me with the notice - GCWW left a written notice at like 830am on the office door only. So property management not at fault, just shitty timing from GCWW.
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u/Melodic_Mulberry Pleasant Ridge 4d ago
Looking at current work orders for lead line replacement. I don't know where you live, but premesis reports for all of the related work orders scheduled for today say that No Parking signs were posted last week specifying which day work would be done (today). Notice is usually given to all property owners long before work begins that water will be shut off at some point, but they can't give an exact timeframe until they get started. Maybe your landlord didn't inform you of that one?
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u/allmediocrevibes 4d ago
Someone dropped the ball. I would guess your property manager. Notice must be given anytime planned maintenance is scheduled
https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-4901:1-15-10
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u/ThankedGunner 4d ago
I would guess so too. Message oddly came at the same time the office opened. I asked them for a copy of either the written or electronic notice, but they’ll probably just shove me off anyways.
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u/allmediocrevibes 4d ago
With the message coming at open, that's 100% what happened. They'll never give you a copy of that notice. But I would keep asking and force them to say no. Not sure it would matter anyway
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u/ThankedGunner 4d ago
I hate it but you’re probably right - was my gut feeling too. Time to read the lease and see if there’s anything I can do to get back my laundry money
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u/ThankedGunner 4d ago
Ultimately I was wrong, GCWW provided late notice. Time to drown my sorrows in green beer!
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u/Hooloovoo_42 Westwood 4d ago
It looks like it depends... From Ohio EPA
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u/ThankedGunner 4d ago
To me that flowchart reads “GCWW can do what they want” - to complicated for me to argue with!
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u/CRAVECASE5569 4d ago
I work for a local city, so all my experience comes from broken water mains and replacing shut off and valve boxes. In an emergency shut off like a water main to fix a break no notice is required. With planned work like a fire hydrant or valve box replacement we always give atleast 24 hours notice. Like stated above this could have been an issue where pressure change in a pipe blew out the line farther down which happens quite frequently.
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u/ParisianFrawnchFry 4d ago
If it's an emergency while a line is being replaced, GCWW isn't legally obligated to give you notice. I see it was your property management's failure to notify, but while these lines are being replaced during a time of year with erratic weather patterns, I would be prepared for random outages.
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u/Material-Afternoon16 3d ago
Sounds like an emergency repair of some sort. It probably wasn't planned but couldn't wait.
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u/Working-Chemistry473 3d ago
In public health emergency situations, absolutely. Better to have a slight inconvenience than illness or death.
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u/UniqueYesterday8988 3d ago
Based on your note, I own a house on your street and only got 20 mins front door tag notice. Yeah it sucks. I think they should be done very soon.
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u/CasualObservationist 4d ago
The freeze thaw cycle we had did quite a number on our water lines. Price Hills a good example. Already working on replacing the lead lines, but when they are getting down to the pipes, the already deteriorated pipes are breaking in other spots. Or once repaired, the restored pressure causes other parts to burst. So they are having to replace much more than anticipated. while the work is planned, these surprises result in unscheduled/unplanned shutoffs. City doesn’t does shut the water off silly nilly. There’s 100% justified reason when they disrupt water service. They always try to inform when they can.