Greater Cincinnati Water Work Issue

GCWW did not approve my yard damage claim.

The reason for denial of damage claim:

“GCWW must have prior knowledge of the problem that caused the water main to break”   –  Quote from GCWW claim department  –   June 30,2025 at 2:09 PM

Pictures and Video

Time Table   5-6-2025

6:15 AM – contacted GCWW informed them of water flowing into yard.

     A Green Township police officer also reported the water leak at approximately 6:30 AM.

  8:15 AM – GCWW Shutoff man arrived to turned water off, it took him about 15-25  minutes after arrival  to  finally stop the water flow.

3:15  pm –  GCWW repair crew arrived.

          The repair crew did no digging, the water flow had forced all of the rock and soil out of the hole.

          The sink hole was 6-7 feet deep (see pictures)

          The debris, from that sink hole still remains in my yard. 

GCWW has remediated the area that they determined was the right of way.  7.11.25

My side yard is unusable, I cannot mow the grass as it is full of rocks and soil outflow from the sink hole.

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 Written communication from GCWW –

GCWW email –  June 3,2025

Greater Cincinnati Water Works has received your claim for damages to your yard at address.  An investigation will be conducted into your claim and you will be contacted once the investigation is completed or if additional information is needed.

GCWW email – June 15 2025  – I inquired about claim  status

    I will check on the status of the investigation and let you know the status.  The restoration of areas in the public right of way are restored by a GCWW contractor and this does take some time depending on weather and contractor’s schedule.  The investigation will determine if GCWW is liable for other damages to your yard.  Have you made any repairs?

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GCWW email – June 16, 2025 –

Your claim is with the investigator, I will contact once it is completed and it has been determined if GCWW is liable for any of the damages. 

Will the estimate you provided change since the contract has restored the right of way?  If so please provide an updated estimate and the receipt once paid.  

The investigator will not visit your property to review your claim. 

You can use your address to reference the claim.

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June 27, 2025 – An updated claim estimate was provided to GCWW –   $2978.40

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GCWW email – June 30, 2025

The City of Cincinnati Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW) has completed its review of your claim for damage to your yard on May 6, 2025 at address, Cincinnati, OH.

On May 6, 2025 GCWW received notification of a water main break at address.  A GCWW crew responded and made the necessary repairs.

We are sensitive to your loss, but before City of Cincinnati can be liable for damages that result from a water main break, GCWW must have prior knowledge of the problem that caused the water main to break.  GCWW was not aware of a problem with the water main at address before May 6, 2025 When notified, GCWW responded promptly and properly.

Therefore, based upon the above facts, we must deny your claim.    

Click video on left had side of laptop display or selection box on the first page of mobile screen.

Statement area

A call was placed at 6:15 AM providing knowledge of a problem. 2 hours later a Greater Cincinnati Water Works employee turned off the water supply to the leaking main.

I was observing from my porch from the time we had knowledge of a problem and seeing the water flow carrying rocks and soil into my yard. Why was there such a long delay ?

Among the numerous people I provided the quote –
“GCWW must have prior knowledge of the the problem that cause the water main to break” the same reaction came back.  Disbelief.

There was such a long delay from the time we reported and the Greentownship officer reported the issue.  You can see from the video water flowing into the roadway.

I sent an email of my issue to the GCWW Executive Director, unfortunately, I’ve received no further communication.

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email address for this posting: gcwwbreak@gmail.com

Pictures and Video