Dismantling for second water connection, cost estimate

Hello forum community,

we are currently preparing for the construction of a house. In 2012, we purchased two plots of land (each 556 sqm) and have now had them merged at the land registry / cadastral office. Since we bought the plots already fully developed, the utilities are connected twice.

When we requested a cost estimate for the installation of a drinking water connection, we were simultaneously informed that we have to pay a net fee of EUR 820 for the removal of the redundant drinking water connection.

The only explanation I could get from my supplier was: "Bacteria could form at the connection and therefore the removal must be carried out."

Since the development of the plots was already 16-17 years ago, I find this statement very vague and cannot really understand it. At the moment we feel cheated by the supplier!!! It gives the impression that they are trying to make money by all means.

So far, I have not been able to find a similar case online. Has anyone of you had such experiences or can give me advice?

Thank you very much

Best regards

redier

Hi, that's really cheeky. What exactly do they want to dismantle there? There isn't an extra pipe going all the way to the property now, is there? Was there already a house there?

If not, to my knowledge there is only a branch attached to the main pipe. Removing that would be nonsense, especially not after 17 years.
If there is, what would happen if you wanted to build another house there? Then you would need the 2nd connection (theoretically of course).

Unfortunately, the water supply in our area is also run by corrupt criminals. They have even been convicted. The question is how far you want to confront these mafia-like authorities or whether you should be glad to pay only 800 euros. We pay 12,000 euros for our drinking water connection. Maybe that offers some consolation, in case you can't get out of this situation.

Thank you very much for the response.

Our property is located in a new development area established in 1995, and of course, there has been no house on it so far. Therefore, the utilities are probably already laid 1m on each property. Some people involved in the house construction have also expressed their incomprehension so far, and no one could confirm this procedure (based on experience). Therefore, the matter makes us somewhat suspicious.

I would boldly claim at first that the 2nd connection should not be removed, since one does not know whether the daughter, sister, niece, or similar might want to build a bungalow next door. Therefore, nothing would change and no costs should be incurred.

On our property, all connections (electricity, water, and gas) had to be dismantled and new connections (electricity and water) had to be installed because we could not use the initial connections and because we do not need gas. We agreed with the utility company not to pay for the dismantling, but if they had insisted, we would have had no choice.

So have a look at the statutes or similar of the local suppliers. In ours it says that they have the "authority" to determine such things. Furthermore, they are also allowed to enter the building for inspections and similar.