Whether and how to upgrade existing utilities is, of course, a basic consideration for any rehab project. Some connections may need to be upsized, upgraded, changed or relocated. But where do you start?  Figuring out the location of the utilities is a good idea.  For us, locating the electrical and gas, and also the sewer connection, was easy. The water service, on the other hand … not so much.

While we were deciding if we should buy the house (in late fall of 2008), it was broken into and vandalized.  Some of the copper piping was stolen, presumably for its resale value by scavengers (see also 04/04/2009 post).  So we ended up with pipes leading to nowhere, and no idea where the water service entered the building, no matter how hard we looked. We decided to try again once the basement was gutted.

Fast forward: The basement is now gutted, and we invited Larry Harpster from C.J. Erickson Plumbing Co. back to help us look for the water service connection once more. We carefully rummaged around all basement walls, and still no luck.

Larry suggested following a cold-water plumbing line, which should lead us eventually to the water service connection. He started in the former basement bathroom, where the sink once was. Hot water is the right faucet, cold water the left. We followed the line, came to a critical T-connection – and – S.O.L! The line that would have given us the clue had been removed by our friends, the scavengers.

Just to be safe we tried the hot water line too, and ran into the exact same problem. What options did we have left now? “What you could try, as a last resort, is have the water service [at the valve box in the parkway] turned on and see where the water comes out in the basement” was Larry’s suggestion.

I got in touch with the people at the Chicago Department of Water Management, who sent me a crew to turn the water on. Standing in the basement at the front window, I gave the go ahead to open the valve, and lo and behold, the water gushed out the floor almost right next to me.

No wonder we could not find the water service. It was snapped off right at the floor slab. Boy, am I glad that this mystery is solved, thanks to Larry and the Department of Water Management.