We have a water connection - a year after we paid for it

Loyal readers of this blog (we know who you are) will be aware of the fact that our relationship with Dwr Cymru Welsh Water has been tense from the very start. At the beginning of our project they seemed determined to make it hard for us to connect into the pubic sewer, though it is a small number of yards away from our land, and are holding a £1,000 deposit until we can demonstrate that the connection works satisfactorily - the mind boggles. A year ago almost exactly we paid them over £2,000 for a connection to the water supply which runs under the public road at the front of our land. Our builder applied for the earliest possible connection. Our many sub-contractors have managed to work on our house only with the help of our kind neighbours, who have supplied water from their outside tap for everything from mortar-mixing to kettle refills.

Yesterday our connection was installed by one of DCWW's sub-contractors. The road is to be closed for two or three days, which will sadly inconvenience a large number of residents of the village. We are not sure that the different work-groups involved are as well synchronised as when the electricity connection was installed - it doesn't help that different people are involved with the excavation works, the actual connection, and the refill and tarmacing works. We should be able to breathe a sigh of relief by the end of tomorrow (or even today?) if the final stages of the work are completed and the road is re-opened.

Meanwhile, Ian the joiner has been carrying on fitting the kitchen, discovering that modifications to the installed electrics and plumbing are needed as he goes. To cap it all, we have bought a fridge/freezer taller than the kitchen designer had allowed for, so he is skillfully modifying one of the more complicated cupboards to line it up with the units to the other side of the kitchen window.

Elizabeth approaches the road block

from the far side of the road, the new blue pipe leads to our property

the old and the new

here, where the road meets our land, the meter cover will be installed when the tarmac is repaired

in the kitchen, the dishwasher is in place and the island is almost complete

oops - no job is without its modifications, as some of the original electrics are needing to be changed




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