My house is now connected to mains water

Notice regarding the installation of mains water © Ricky Yates

When I bought my new house in Stará Oleška back in April 2017, I had to make a legal agreement with my neighbours regarding its water supply. This was pumped from an underground source in the garden of Milan and Lucie, my immediate neighbours, and supplied them, Pavel and Vlasta, (Lucie’s parents), who live behind me, and me. This water, whilst perfectly safe, did sometimes come out rather discoloured. So I took to buying bottled water for cooking and drinking and inserting a sachet of ‘Intensive white’ in the washing machine, when washing light-coloured clothing.

Under this agreement, I have paid CZK 200 a month for my water supply – CZK 100 for the electricity powering the pump and CZK 100 for the maintenance and repairs to the pump. Therefore on 30th April each year since, I’ve given Pavel, who masterminded the funds, CZK 2400 for the following twelve months of my water supply.

One part of the agreement stated that, if the village was to at some future date, obtain a mains water supply, I would arrange to be connected to it within a year. There had been an unsuccessful attempt a couple of years before I moved to the village, to obtain funding for the installation of mains water.

Hole with blue pipes sticking out © Ricky Yates

In 2019, the Council for Obec Huntírov/ Huntírov Municipality, successfully obtained an EU grant for the installation of mains water in Stará Oleška. Therefore, early in 2020, big holes started appearing in the village with blue pipes sticking out of them.

Workmen’s hut & blue piping © Ricky Yates

Unfortunately, I wasn’t at home the day the contractors dug the hole for my connection to the new water main. I had been given a plan showing my connection as being adjacent to the boundary hedge and fence between my property and Milan and Lucie’s property.

Hole & blue pipe outside my house with sections of concrete drainage channel stacked on the grass bank © Ricky Yates

The contractors instead put it seven metres away and, in doing so, also dug up several concrete sections of a drainage channel that runs along the strip of public land in front of my front hedge.

In time, the contractors returned and filled in the hole. But they didn’t reinstate the concrete gulley nor did they remove the excess earth and rubble from the grass bank behind it.

Drainage channel & grass bank in front of my front hedge © Ricky Yates

The photograph above shows how it looked in the middle of Summer 2020.

With no one returning to put right the mess on the public land in front of my house and wanting to get the position of my water connection corrected, in early August 2020, I wrote an email to Ing. Pacovský, the engineer in charge of the project. My good friend Kát’a kindly put my English text into Czech. Just over thirty-six hours later, I got a phone call in Czech 🙂 from Ing. Pacovský’s junior, agreeing to meet me the next day, to address the problem.

At our meeting on Thursday 13th August, the junior engineer acknowledged that my water connection had been put in the wrong place but said it couldn’t now be changed. But he agreed that the concrete gully should be reinstated and the associated mess cleared up and assured me that the contractors would return and do so. However, as it was August, the men were currently on holiday.

As I am a permanent resident in the village, I have not been required to pay anything towards the cost of mains water being installed. Those people with holiday homes wanting to be connected to the new system, have had to make a financial contribution. But every property owner, resident or non-resident alike, has had to meet the cost of the work required to connect their house to the water main in the adjacent public road.

Fast forward two months to early October. With nothing being done about reinstating the concrete gully and clearing up the associated mess, Kát’a kindly contacted the junior engineer to ask what was happening. As well as assuring her that he would get the contractors to do the work, he said that they would also be willing to do all that was necessary to connect my house to the new water main. They would come and work at the weekend and in turn, I would pay them in cash.

Not knowing anyone else who could do the work and having recently been asked by my neighbours, who was going to do it, I decided that the only way forward was to accept their offer and so contribute to what is proverbially known here as the ‘grey economy’. So it was on the morning of Saturday 17th October, a van appeared with three workmen and their tools.

Having surveyed the route of the channel they needed to dig, I was then asked, ‘Where was my supply of blue water piping?’ I had assumed that the men would bring it with them. Fortunately, despite it being Saturday morning, the leader of the contractors was able to make contact with an employee of Huntírov Council, who a short while later, arrived in his truck,……

Blue piping © Ricky Yates

……with the piping,…..

Water meter © Ricky Yates

……..and with my water meter. He also produced a clipboard with a list of properties and their owners where I had to sign against my name and number, confirming receipt of my water meter.

Channel going under my front hedge © Ricky Yates

The men then set about digging a quite deep channel, under my front hedge……

Water pipe having come under the front hedge © Ricky Yates

…and into my front garden on the other side.

In-filled channel across the paved area in front of the carport © Ricky Yates

My greatest concern was how much disturbance there would be to the paved area in front of my carport. As you can see, the men removed paving blocks and the stone chippings on which they were sitting, and put them under the carport. Then they dug a channel and laid the piping. They had already refilled the channel before I took this photograph.

Channel alongside my front path © Ricky Yates

Then it was onwards alongside my front path…..

Partly dug channel across the front lawn © Ricky Yates

…and across my front lawn. This was the incomplete channel when they finished work that afternoon.

On Sunday morning, the three men returned and completed digging the channel across the front lawn and up the side of my house. Fortunately, Milan had been in his garden when the workmen had arrived the previous morning. He was able to tell them the exact point where the pipe from the underground source in his garden, came under the fence into my garden, heading to my house. He also kindly said that they could take down the fence to make their task easier.

Channel at the side of the house © Ricky Yates

When the workman dug the channel, they found the pipe, exactly where Milan said it would be. It is somewhere at the bottom of the channel in the photograph above.

In-filled channel across the front lawn © Ricky Yates

Also on Sunday 18th October, the men filled in the channel they had dug across the front lawn.

Reinstated drainage channel © Ricky Yates

The following day, during normal working hours and whilst I was in Prague for a medical appointment, the contractors finally reinstated the concrete drainage channel. I have to say that they didn’t do it very well as the reinstated sections are slightly higher than they should be, causing a puddle to form in the channel when it rains. My general impression of the workmen is that they are very good at digging things up, but not so good at putting them back afterwards 🙁

The ‘shaft’ © Ricky Yates

In advance of the contractors returning on Sunday 25th October, to complete the work to connect me to the new water main, the leader of the contractors told me that they needed to purchase a ‘shaft’ at a cost of CZK 8000. I had to produce the cash and then they would obtain it from a firm in Ústí nad Labem. So I handed over the cash early in the week and a day later, the ‘shaft’ appeared under my carport, once more when I wasn’t at home.

The ‘shaft’ inserted just inside the front hedge © Ricky Yates

On Sunday 25th October, the three men reappeared as agreed, and proceeded to dig a very large hole immediately inside my front hedge, in order to bury the ‘shaft’ in the ground. Here it is being inserted.

The ‘shaft’ inserted with its cover on top © Ricky Yates

And here it is with its cover on top.

Inside the ‘shaft’ © Ricky Yates

What is it for? It houses my water meter with steps down so someone can climb down and read the meter. The handles on either side of the meter enable the water supply to be turned off if ever that is required. It needs to be so deep, along with the channel for the piping through my garden, to ensure it doesn’t freeze up in the winter. After the winter weather we’ve had in January and February this year, I’m grateful for depth at which it has been installed.

In the mid-afternoon of Sunday 25th October, the contractors completely turned off my old water supply and then connected their newly laid piping to the existing piping that brings water right into the house. Half-an-hour later, Stará Oleška 44 was connected to mains water.

There are two postscripts to this long saga, one positive, the other, negative.

A few days after I was connected to mains water, late one afternoon, Pavel came down from his house having seen me in my back garden. He presented me with a little slip of paper, explaining that I’d only used water from the old supply for six months since I gave him CZK 2400 on 30th April 2020. Therefore, I was due a refund and he thrust CZK 1200 into my hand. Whilst technically correct, I wasn’t expecting a refund, not least because not many weeks earlier, there had been a major failure of the old pump which needed a couple of visits from an engineer in order to fix it.

On Sunday 25th October, when I gave the contractors the requested cash for the work they had done, there were still three outstanding things to be completed. There was excess earth that needed to be taken away from where they had dug the hole for the ‘shaft’. They still needed to make good the strip of public land between the concrete gully and my front hedge which also involved removing excess earth and rubble. And my paving blocks needed to be reinstated. They promised to return on Wednesday 28th October, a public holiday, with a vehicle in which to take away the earth and rubble and complete the job.

Wednesday 28th October arrived but the men didn’t appear. We chased them up and they promised to come on Sunday 22nd November. At 09.00 that morning, they rang up with some weak excuse about a car breaking down. The reality of course was that they had been offered another job for cash which they would much prefer to go and do, rather than complete a job for which they had already been paid 🙁 The problem of using the ‘grey economy’ 😉

I have managed to use most of the excess earth elsewhere in the garden and in places where the in-filled channels have sunk over the winter. And I will work via the Council to get the mess cleared up on the strip of public land. But I decided eventually that I would ask and pay František, who constructed the new path in my back garden, to reinstate the paving blocks. He kindly did so on 2nd January, just a week before the snow arrived, doing a brilliant job as you can see.

Paving blocks reinstated © Ricky Yates

 

Living in a flat in the Czech Republic

The block of flats in which we live © Ricky Yates
The block of flats in which we live © Ricky Yates

Nearly eight years ago, Sybille and I moved from the North Oxfordshire countryside to Prague, and from a four-bedroomed detached Rectory with several downstairs rooms, to a three-bedroomed flat with a sitting room and a minute kitchen. Not only did this mean us undertaking a massive and therapeutic downsizing exercise, it also means we now have close neighbours – several of them!

Our flat is on the second floor at the end of the block. It is identifiable by the orange coloured bedspread which was drying on a clothes rack on our main balcony, when this photograph was taken. Because we are on the end of the block, we only physically abut one other flat, (to the right of our main balcony in the photo), with one shared wall and a frosted glass panel that divides our respective balconies.

When we first moved into our new home, this small neighbouring flat was owned and occupied by a Czech young lady called Lucie. We soon discovered that Lucie was a singer as we frequently heard her practising her scales 🙁 The other notable thing about Lucie was that in warm, sunny, summer weather, she enjoyed being out on her balcony wearing a pink bikini 🙂

About two years ago, Lucie sold the flat to a young couple, Zuzana and Filip. They made some alterations to the flat – we heard the banging and hammering 🙁 But what we didn’t initially realise was that a year ago, Zuzana and Filip moved out and started renting out their flat through Airbnb. We only discovered this in early September 2015, when Sybille overheard three young men speaking in German on the neighbouring balcony. She asked, in German, through the glass, who they were and what they were doing there. They were from Konstanz and Airbnb guests.

You can learn all about this ‘fully equipped studio’ here. The webpage contains some delightful Czenglish including offering ‘one double bad’. This is obviously either a sizeable German bath or a large amount of trouble! There are a series of seven photographs and the second one is of the balcony, looking towards our main balcony. Sybille’s green watering can is clearly visible through the glass 🙂

So far, our various Airbnb neighbours haven’t caused us too many problems. A few months back, three Australian young ladies were making quite a racket at 22.30 on Saturday night. I buzzed the door bell and pointedly remarked that, ‘Some of us have to work tomorrow!’ More recently, a group of young Spanish males got quite a surprise when being told to be quieter by Sybille, in her fluent Spanish!

Long-standing readers of my blog will know that we discovered who lived in the flat immediately above us, when in December 2010, we experienced Christmas Carp induced flooding. Follow the link if you do not know the story. Ever since that event, we have always referred to the owner of the flat directly above us, as ‘Mr Water Engineer’ 😉

Two or three years ago, a lady appeared on the scene and moved in. Initially we referred to her as ‘Mr Water Engineer’s girlfriend’. We would often see her out running, obviously keen to be fit and keep slim. But then in her quest for fitness, she bought herself an exercise bike. And unlike most other purchasers of exercise bikes, she actually uses it – regularly!

In both the sitting room, where Sybille has her desk, and in the bedroom which I use as my office, we regularly hear ‘de-da-de-da-de-da-de-da’, as she peddles away. So the lady is now known as ‘Mrs Hamster Wheel’, because that is what it exactly sounds like 🙁 As her bike riding sessions usually last for between one-and-a-half and two hours, we regularly use their commencement as an excuse to head to one of our nearby bar-restaurants 🙂

For legal and other reasons, I shall refrain from any comments regarding the couple and their daughter, who live in the flat immediately below us. But recently, there have been some interesting changes in flat below that – the one situated on the ground floor.

The ground floor flat, two storeys below ours, has a garden. Because it is on the end of the block, the garden extends on three sides, though the section at the rear is very narrow. Back in 2008, when we moved in above, this ground floor flat was owned and occupied by a couple and their child. A couple of years later, a second child was born.

They also had a lively Jack Russell terrier who enjoyed running around the garden and barking at anyone who passed by. The dog’s name was Gazpacho – quite why he should be named after a cold Spanish soup, we never discovered. He was colloquially known as ‘Gazpi’ and we always referred to his owners as ‘Mr & Mrs Gazpi’.

Late last year, Mr & Mrs Gazpi moved out and put the flat up for sale. As we discovered, by checking the sale particulars online, the flat is only about two-thirds the size of ours, because it loses space to the entrance lobby of the block.

Earlier this year, the new owner moved in. She is a lady who I think is in her late forties, though I do recognise that judging a lady’s age is entering into seriously dangerous territory 😉 As she has two different surnames on her mail box, I presume that she is a recent divorcee who is reverting to her maiden surname, but realises that mail may still come addressed to her in her married name. Also on the mail box, is the name of her teenage son who has the male form of one of her surnames.

This lady clearly saw the potential of this flat and particularly, the garden. Although, as you can see in the photograph, the hedge around the garden is already quite mature, she has placed basket-woven fencing inside the hedge for greater privacy. She has also blocked up the bottom of the garden gate, to ensure that the third member of her family, a large, grey floppy-eared rabbit, doesn’t escape!

About two months ago, a workman arrived and started digging a large hole in the garden, directly below our balcony. It being a fairly hot day, in typical Czech fashion, he stripped down to his boxer shorts to do so! He returned over the following days to line the large hole with a cement render and then lay a thick black plastic membrane, in order to create a pond.

Timber was delivered and, after the new owner had brushed timber preservative over it several times, another couple of workmen arrived to convert the timber into decking, all around the newly created pond. Here is the end result, as viewed from our balcony, two floors above.

Michaela's new pond, as seen from our balcony © Ricky Yates
The new pond, as seen from our balcony © Ricky Yates

I have to say that the end result is very attractive. However now, on some occasions when it is warm and sunny, our new neighbour stands in her pond, or sunbathes on the decking, wearing a lacy g-string and nothing else! Whilst she has created some privacy at a ground-floor level, I am left to wonder whether she ever thought about those of us who live directly above. We do like to look out from our balcony from time to time, and frequently as we do, we are greeted with yet another ‘only in the Czech Republic‘ moment 🙂