½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Most rural areas in Marche have water fountains at various points in all the small hamlets. This dates from the days when these farmhouses did not have running water and there was a comunal washing/drinking water point. If you ask the neighbours or drive around you will find yours.

Round our way they have all just been restored.

[quote=AngelDiMana;119239]Hi All,

We are now nearing completion of the sale of our farmhouse ................ but have now found that we will probably will be without water .....................Nigel & Amanda[/quote]

How was water 'managed' during the building works?

Is there a neighbour who you can run a temporary supply from? [our place is one of 3 that share the same meter - it works pretty well]

.

.

Hi Nigel and Amanda

Both ideas from Penny and Alan would be very good options to investigate.

Another idea would be to get a cisterna - very large plastic tanks holding around 10,000 litres (or something like that) and cost around 50 Euros - to hold water for your cleaning and gardening etc (not for drinking as they are usually second hand and you don't know what has been in them before). You can put these next to the house and fill these from downpipes from roofs.

For drinking water why not make a day trip to the Monti Sibillini National Park which isn't that far from where you are in Le Marche and fill up lots of smaller containers with drinking water directly from the mountains - a great spot is on the road to Foce where all the cars stop and spend time filling up a car boot full of water bottles! I've even seen farmers take their cisternas on the back of trucks and fill them up here.

Kevan

Thanks to all,

Is the natural fountain near Foce likely to be flowing in mid July when the weather is hot??

The utilities were supposed to connected prior to completion as part of our sale agreement, but now theres almost no chance of this happening. Our lawyer says that it will now likeky happen later in the year but for us not to worry.
What can we do to speed up the process?

You will find that your local comunal water fountain is piped directly from Foce. It was a project in the 50's to bring water water to outlying areas. Ask the neighbours if it is safe to drink.

You can get an emergency building connection for your electricity fairly quickly from ENEL. This is used by builders when there is no supply to a property. I think ENEL are obliged to provide it within a certain timeframe but I'm sure someone else on here will know if that is correct or what that timeframe is.

I can't see why you would have to wait until later in the year unless they have to put in poles etc. In which case I would check where they want to put them and make sure the neighbours have no objections otherwise this can take forever.

The water connection doesn't usually take long either so unless there is no water supply near the property (in which case the same as above applies) again, I can't see why you should have to wait until later in the year.

Just one question. Are the previous owners paying for the connection?

[quote=AngelDiMana;119273]
Is the natural fountain near Foce likely to be flowing in mid July when the weather is hot??
[/quote]
Yep should be flowing from underground watertable - and as Penny says you should be able to find a local source of drinking water piped down from Foce - I think you can even get this on the coast from Foce - I've seen one in Grottamare. But it's a great excuse to get into the mountains in the summer.

[quote=Penny;119275]I can't see why you would have to wait until later in the year unless they have to put in poles etc. In which case I would check where they want to put them and make sure the neighbours have no objections otherwise this can take forever.

The water connection doesn't usually take long either so unless there is no water supply near the property (in which case the same as above applies) again, I can't see why you should have to wait until later in the year.

Just one question. Are the previous owners paying for the connection?[/quote]

Hi Penny,

Yes, the previous owners are paying for the connection, i guess with the large deposit weve already given them.

I presumed that the water and electricty had been planed to be connected at the same time and through a 200mtr trence across land that the previous owner of our house still owns.

Ive just had an email from our lawyer saying that she's trying to find out what stage they are at but we were there about 4 weeks ago and the trench hadnt been started then.
She thought that there may have been a delay with Enel.

Thanks

N&A

[quote=Kevan Cummins;119282]Yep should be flowing from underground watertable - and as Penny says you should be able to find a local source of drinking water piped down from Foce - I think you can even get this on the coast from Foce - I've seen one in Grottamare. But it's a great excuse to get into the mountains in the summer.[/quote]

Does anybody know of a source a little nearer Francavilla, Mante San Pietrangeli or Corridonia??

Thanks

[quote=AngelDiMana;119284]Hi Penny,

Yes, the previous owners are paying for the connection, i guess with the large deposit we've already given them..................N&A[/quote]

Have you paid the full [final] price to the previous owners yet - if not, you could consider talking to your lawyer about the possibility of holding some monies back until everything is connected

.

[quote=alan h;119292]Have you paid the full [final] price to the previous owners yet - if not, you could consider talking to your lawyer about the possibility of holding some monies back until everything is connected

.[/quote]

Thanks Alan,

We're already considering that. We have one more part of the deposit to pay prior to completion and then another payment due in February 2010.
I dont want to delay the house completion date by holding out on the next payment but will possibly do that for the the february payment.

I dont anticipate that we'll be at the house much between September and February.

½ûÂþÌìÌÃs dont seem to always run with the same efficiency as the English and dont seem too bothered when it doesnt effect then directly. Maybe we'll get more movement if it hits them in the pocket???

Thanks

N&A

Alan's advice is very wise.

Do you know how much it the connections are going to cost? In my case to connect my town house to water & gas cost over €1000 and the pipes were outside the front door!! It could run into several thousands quite easily. Both ENEL & the water company's sub-contractors must supply a written quote so I would ask to see that, so that you know how much to hold back/deduct. Also make sure all of this is written as a coda to the contract. This is very important. Everything must be in writing if you decide to hold back or deduct some money otherwise you too (not just the owner for not getting services connected) have not met the contract conditions.

[SIZE="2"][SIZE="3"][FONT="Verdana"]I dont know how much exactly the installaion costs but it was mentioned at the very early stages of the contract / negotiations that it was somewhere in the E20,000 region for both water and electric.
They do have to be connected via a trench that runs across a field approx 200 mtrs or so.

It does say in our preliminary contract, i quote the translated version.......
[FONT="Book Antiqua"]
It is also the responsibility of the promisee vendor, at his own expense, to carry out all of the works requested by Enel and Tennacola in order to allow the connection of the property, object of the sale, to the network of distribution for water and for electrical energy with a power supply no lower than 6 KW, specifying that the promisee vendor must bring the above-mentioned services to the border of parcel 5, Folio 6 of the Land Registry in the Town of Monte San Pietrangeli; it being understood that the expense for the meters and the connection of the same and also the request for the supply and for the systems of distribution of the same inside the property, object of this present contract, will be charged to the promisee purchasers.
It is the responsibility of the promisee vendor moreover, to construct right of way for the aqueduct and the electroduct for the land which is object of this present contract and it is through the agricultural land of which he is owner that the Enel and Tennacola companies will run their pipelines. ....[/FONT]

How long would you say it is acceptable to wait for an installation of this type?
It seems reading from previous threads that you could wait anywhere from 3 months to 18 months??

I fear that nothing yet has been done about the installation at all but we cant get an answer!!!:

Thanks

Nigel & Amanda[/FONT][/SIZE]

PS - Sorry about the dodgy fonts[/SIZE]

IMHO there are a few issues here:

1. The vendor is responsible for making the trenches and legalising the rights of way across his property. Why should there be a hold up for this? Surelt he could start tomorrow if he so wants. If it were my house I would not sign the final contract until this is done. It will be very difficult to enforce after the final contract if the vendor decides not to do it. You really do want to avoid legal action in this country if humanly possible.

2. ENEL & Tennacola will provide prices for your connection to Parcel 5, Folio 6 - so this is the figure you could choose to deduct from the asking price if you agree with the vendor that you will deal with this, if you feel he is not getting on with it in a timely fashion.

3. The actual connections from Parcel 5, Folio 6 are at your expense and for this you must wait on ENEL & the water company. How long is a piece of string? In my experience it seems to be quicker if you have the right people on your side who have a personal relationship with the local ENEL & water company engineers. Does your agent or geometra/architect have these kinds of relationships? If not, there is usually a local Mr Fixit (usually a local accountant) who seems to know how to get these things done. Ask around for recommendations from your neighbours etc.

Despite what it says in the preliminary contract, in order to protect your deposit, you must also not default on any part of the contract (this includes holding back payment past the date stated in the preliminary contract) without your lawyer putting this all in writing as a coda to the contract. They must advise you on exactly what this would entail. Verbal agreements count for nothing in Italy so please protect yourself and have it all done in writing.

We had the same problem years back. Although we managed to get ENEL to connect us Ciip hadn't bothererd to put the water in before we got here, despite their promises. We ended up going down to Ciip every day for 5 days looking rather unkempt (having begged water from neighbours,etc. and using the showers at the campsites at the beaches). They got so fed up that they decided to come and put the mains in Saturday morning 4am! just to get rid-off us. a word of warning though, we had been told when getting here at the end of June that summer that they won't come until the end of September when the neighbouring farmer would have cut his crop on the field that the trench would have to run through. So get onto both ENEL and Ciip early before the summer season as they won't damage the farmers' crop to put your mains in. You can normally go to Ciip in person as the have local offices, getting hold of someone in person at ENEL is a different matter though.

Good luck

DavidUno (a forum member) is a super Mr 'Fixit' and not a million miles away from you - Maybe send him a PM?