Rusty water: complaints to homeowners' associations, Rospotrebnadzor and the city water utility. Poor quality of tap water
___________________________________________
(name of body, full name of head)
From ________________________________________
Tel.__________________________________________
Email _____________________________________
Application for an administrative offense under Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses “Violation of standards for providing the population with utility services”
At the address _____________, the management organization violates the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation and the Rules for the provision of utility services, namely in the apartment: poor quality water.
In accordance with the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 354 of May 6, 2011. owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, deviation of the composition and properties cold water from the requirements established by the sanitary and epidemiological rules and regulations “Drinking water. Hygienic requirements for water quality of centralized drinking water supply systems. Quality control. SanPiN 2.1.4.1074-01” approved by the Chief State Sanitary Doctor Russian Federation 09.26.2001, not allowed. If the composition and properties of cold water do not comply with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation on technical regulation, the amount of payment for utility services is reduced by the amount of the fee in total for each day the service is provided of inadequate quality.
In accordance with paragraph 31 of the Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings adopted by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 6, 2011 N 354, the organization providing the consumer public utilities, is obliged, independently or with the involvement of other persons, to carry out Maintenance intra-house engineering systems, with the use of which utility services are provided to the consumer, as well as recalculate the amount of payment for utility services, including in connection with the provision of utility services of inadequate quality and (or) with interruptions exceeding the permissible duration.
In accordance with Article 154 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, payment for residential premises includes payment for the maintenance and current repairs of common property in an apartment building, as well as payment for utilities.
In this regard, the implementation of work to eliminate this violation does not require additional financing from the owner.
Article 2 of the “Regulations on State Housing Supervision”, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 493 of June 11, 2013, states: “The tasks of state housing supervision are to prevent, identify and suppress violations by authorities state power, organs local government, as well as legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and citizens established in accordance with housing legislation, legislation on energy saving and on increasing energy efficiency requirements for the use and safety of the housing stock, regardless of its form of ownership, including requirements for residential premises, their use and maintenance, the use and maintenance of common property of premises owners in apartment buildings, the formation of funds overhaul, creation and activities legal entities, individual entrepreneurs managing apartment buildings, providing services and (or) performing work on the maintenance and repair of common property in apartment buildings, providing utilities to owners and users of premises in apartment buildings and residential buildings, specialized non-profit organizations that carry out activities aimed at to ensure the overhaul of common property in apartment buildings, as well as the requirements for energy efficiency and equipment of premises apartment buildings and residential buildings with metering devices for used energy resources.”
In addition, in accordance with Article 28.4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor's Office has the right to initiate proceedings for any administrative offense.
Clause 149 of the Rules establishes that the contractor, the organization providing utility services, bears responsibility for violations of the quality of provision of utility services to the consumer, including administrative responsibility.
Violation by persons responsible for the provision of utility services of the standards for providing the population with utility services constitutes an administrative offense, liability for which is provided for in Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.
In connection with the above, on the basis of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 26, 1994 No. 1086 “On the State Housing Inspectorate in the Russian Federation”, the Federal Law “On the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation”, the Federal Law “On the procedure for considering appeals from citizens of the Russian Federation”, I ask:
Organize an on-site verification of the stated facts;
Issue an order to carry out the necessary measures and work to eliminate the violation and carry out recalculation, set deadlines for their implementation;
Initiate administrative proceedings under Article 7.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, identify the perpetrators and bring them to administrative responsibility.
(date) (signature)
You can file complaints about the inaction of your housing office, management company and homeowners association in the field of housing and communal services to the prosecutor's office or Rospotrebnadzor in your region.
The quality of utility services provided is not always ideal, even despite their timely payment.
What to do if dirty water flows from the faucet in the kitchen and bathroom or there are other household problems that worsen the quality of life in the apartment.
There are a number of services that are responsible for the safety of water supply and its consistency. Residents of apartments do not always know; if there is a problem with rusty tap water, where should they complain?
Eventually long time they experience the inconvenience of wasting days trying to find someone responsible.
There are several reasons for poor quality of water supply; the type of organization responsible for eliminating the problem also depends on their type.
- One of the common reasons is planned shutdown of water supply. At the end of each heating season or before its start, utilities and heating networks turn off the water to check the working condition heating system. If such a check was carried out unprofessionally, it is possible that there is rust and iron in the pipes; after connecting the water supply, the quality tap water will be low. You should contact your water utility or heating network to report the problem.
- The Gorvodokanal is obliged to thoroughly purify water from impurities. Under the ground, it often has a large number of metal particles. Poor quality cleaning, use of outdated equipment at water utilities leads to the fact that the liquid reaches the consumer with sediment, colored with rust and metal.
- Rust or other contaminants may appear in the working environment of pipes for other reasons, which can be determined by specialists.
IMPORTANT! Most often, bad hot or cold water flows through metal pipes, since the material of manufacture oxidizes as a result of exposure to hot liquid.
In many cases, after a water supply is turned off, poor quality water runs for a short time. After a couple of hours or days, the sediment is washed away and soon the water supply can be used again. If the process is delayed, you should contact the relevant authorities. Rusty water should not be drunk, used for cooking, washing or doing other housework..
When to take measures to restore the quality of water supply
After turning off the water supply, rust, foreign color and odor may appear in the working environment of the pipes. What to do and who to complain to if this state of affairs does not change throughout the week?
- The first step is to call the emergency dispatch service. There may have been an accident on the water supply line and restoration work is being carried out. A specialized dispatcher will explain why there is dirty water in the apartment and when it will be safe.
IMPORTANT! The complaint must be registered. If necessary, you can find the application in the registration book and the time it was received.
- The emergency dispatcher may not always know the reason why the water supply system is supplying dirty water.. But he is obliged to record complaints and provide the consumer with maximum information.
- In order for consumers to stock up on drinking and process water in advance, water utility services must inform about planned shutdowns of water supply several days before the start of work.
IMPORTANT! If the water flows with rust for a long time and is of poor quality, utilities must recalculate for the specified period. After all, the quality of services does not meet the requirements.
Complaint to the management company
The water in the tap is red, what should I do? Residents of apartments rarely face this question, but you need to know the phone number and address of the responsible company.
If the quality of the working environment of the water supply is terrible, you should complain to the management company.
It is worth filing a complaint in writing in person (with mandatory registration in the journal) or by registered mail and notification.
The application should be drawn up correctly, indicating the address from which date the water with impurities and sediment flows. In the dictionary you need to look up how to spell plumbing correctly and the spelling of other words.
IMPORTANT! The resource supplying organization has the right to consider complaints from consumers within two days. Therefore, it is worth contacting the authority as soon as possible after the problem occurs.
Persons responsible for supplying high-quality water supply must determine whether the water in the house or apartment is potable, and for what reason metal impurities and rust appeared in it.
Specialists take liquid samples directly from the taps in the applicants’ apartment. As a result, the state of the working environment in the water supply pipes, the cause of contamination, and methods for eliminating it are established. The services that are responsible for the quality and safety of water must take measures to eliminate the problem.
ATTENTION! Resource supply companies must understand that the safety and health of consumers depends on the quality of their services.
Help from Rospotrebnadzor
In some cases, laboratory tests take too long to resolve the problem of poor water quality. In this situation, it is worth contacting Rospotrebnadzor. This organization also employs specialists who conduct various examinations of the state of water and draw up service level reports. Rospotrebnadzor can also take effective measures to eliminate the causes of rust..
Going to court
Litigation over poor quality of water supply and failure of the management organization to fulfill its duties is rarely carried out. But everyone who filed a lawsuit has the right to rely on consumer protection. What is he doing possible start proceedings?
The consumer is required to submit to court all acts, including those from Rospotrebnadzor, confirming the low level of water supply services and the results of water analysis. An important document is the service agreement.
If all evidence is provided, the court will oblige the responsible company not only to restore high-quality water supply that meets sanitary standards. The plaintiff can rely on other points of the decision.
- The supplier must recalculate utilities for supplying rusty and dangerous water.
- If the consumer installed filters during this period in order to properly use the water supply, the cost of the equipment must be reimbursed.
- Compensation for moral damage caused by inconvenience due to contamination of the water supply is also awarded.
Rust and metal impurities can damage plumbing fixtures, which will subsequently require replacement. The water supplier, by court order, pays the cost of the damaged property.
Useful video
Find out if you can drink rusty tap water
You need to know that under the influence of high pressure and water speed, sediments deposited on the pipes and solid particles of rust are washed out. In addition, there are so-called “dead-end lines” located in the private sectors of cities, where the pipeline was laid long ago by the owners of private houses. This also degrades water quality.
Of course, this is not a normal phenomenon. After all, every tenant or homeowner pays for utilities of proper quality, including water supply.
Where to contact
If the occurrence of poor-quality water in the water supply is rare, then it is enough to contact the management company. The same should be done if the water quality has changed after cleaning the boiler or replacing pipes in the emergency area.
When such problematic situation continues for a long period and the management company ignores the tenants’ statements, then you should resort to contacting the local water utility to test the drinking water. These studies are being carried out in collaboration with management company.
There are situations when those responsible for research data are slow to respond to citizens' requests. According to Federal Law, you can send an appeal to the Office of Rospotrebnadzor in the hygiene supervision department. Specialists from the territorial department will conduct proper research and laboratory tests of water quality. Samples will be taken from applicants' taps. As a result, the causes of water pollution will be clarified.
If there is no reaction
If no action on the part of the above authorities occurs, then you should submit written statements to several authorities: the prosecutor's office, the court, the Ministry of Rospotrebnadzor, the State Housing Inspectorate. If there are results of any analyzes and conclusions of independent specialists, then copies of them must be attached to the applications.
There is a misconception that you don’t have to pay for low-quality water, for water that doesn’t comply with Sanitary Regulations and Regulations. Before not paying, you must prove the non-compliance. Only by proving this in court can you get your money back and force the perpetrators to pay for the damage caused to citizens.
To file a lawsuit against a water utility, a single customer and a service organization, you must collect the following necessary documents:
1. Service agreement with the relevant organization.
2. All acts or certified copies. Which were compiled.
3. Conclusions of analyzes, if any.
The court's claims must fully cover all claims, otherwise compensation will be partial. We must demand:
1. Restore the quality of water in the water supply.
2. Release the plaintiff from paying for poor quality water. The basis is Article 29 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.
3. If filters were installed, then reimburse the cost to the culprit.
4. Compensation for moral damage. This point must be justified by material costs and moral suffering.
5. Compensation for losses associated with possible damage to property, expenses for drinking water because the rights of citizens were violated. Grounds – Article 15, paragraph 2 of the Civil Code of Russia “...restoration of violated rights...”
But phone calls and empty verbal threats will lead nowhere.