On about Oct 25 I noticed wet carpet and discovered that the water softener reservoir tank had overflowed. The water flowed under the drywall and into the carpeted family room. I am not sure when the tank overflowed. I suspect that it overflowed more than once (during the softener re-charging) prior to our discovery of the wet carpet.
The reservoir tank has an overflow tube, but there was no drain line connected to the overflow tube. The problem and damage was caused by the missing drain line. There should have been a drain line from the overflow tube to our sump pump pit. If a line had been installed there would be no water on the floor and carpet.
I softener was installed about 15 years ago by Complete Water Systems. I called them to come and fix the system. Dave, the repair man said the safety float had failed. He replaced the safety float and installed a drain line. I asked why they did not install a drain line when they installed the system. Dave said that they normally do not install drain lines when there is a safety float since the safety float is a second safety system to prevent reservoir tank overflows. He said that overflows are very rare with this type of double safety system. I said that, in my opinion, they should have installed the drain tube as the third safety system to prevent damage from the rare reservoir overflows. I said I thought they should pay for the damages.
I called representative of two water softener companies to ask if they installed drain lines for systems that have a safety float as a second safety system. They both said that they do, but they also said that maybe half of the water softener companies do not. I said that a policy of not installing a drain line as a third safety system seems foolish to me since the plastic drain line is inexpensive and only takes a few minutes to install. Both representatives agreed. Both representatives said that overflows are rare and many companies do not install drain lines.
The homeowners insurance paid the claim, but I had to pay the $1,000 deductable. They agreed that Complete Water Systems should be responsible to pay the damages, but they said the amount was small and they would not expend the effort that would be required to try to get Complete Water to pay for the damages.
I called Larry (manager) and later Jackie (owner) of Compete Water to say that I thought they should pay my $1,000 deductable. I said that my insurance company would not pursue them to pay damages.
Jackie first said the warranty for the system has expired. I said the issue is not a warranty for failed equipment. I paid for replacement of the safety float and am not asking reimbursement. I said the damages were caused by the fact that they did not install a drain line when they installed the system. It is not an issue of failed equipment. The issue is that there a drain line was not installed when the system was installed. I assert that a drain line should have been installed and that the damages would not have occurred if it had been installed.
Jackie asserted that I could not prove that they had not installed a drain line. She said that someone might have removed it. I said that both Dave and Larry admitted that they normally do not install drain lines with this type of system. I said that the drain line should have been installed even thought overflows are rare due to the double safety system.
During one of my follow-up calls to Jackie, she said that the reason they do not install drain lines is that Will County has a building code against installing reservoir drain lines to sump pits due to backflow potential. She said that I have no grounds to claim that they should pay for damages because drain lines to sump pumps are a code violation. She said that drain lines are only permitted by the code when backflow prevention is also installed in the drain line. (I did not say this to Jackie, but there is no back-flow prevention on the drain line that Dave installed when he replaced the failed safety float.)
A few weeks after the safety float was replaced, I discovered that the reservoir water level was below the salt floor. I called Complete Water to report this problem. Dave came and adjusted the system so the water level was above the salt floor. They did not bill me for this service. While Dave was servicing the unit, I asked if there was a Will County Code that prevents drain lines routed to sump pumps. Dave said, “No.”
I called Jackie to report that Dave said there is no code prohibiting drain lines being routed to sump pits. Jackie said that Dave’s information was not correct. I said I would call Will County and ask. I called the Will County Building department and spoke to Rich, the plumbing inspector. He said there was no Will County or Illinois State Code that prohibits overflow reservoir drain lines being routed to sump pits.
I called Jackie to report on my call to Rich. Jackie asked if I cleaned the reservoir tank annually. I said “No.” Jackie said that if I didn’t clean the tank annually, then Complete Water cannot be held responsible for reservoir tank overflows. I asked if annual cleaning was part of the old original operating manual or the operating manual for units currently being installed. She said “No” for both the old manual and the new manuals. She said that the annual cleaning requirement is communicated to the homeowner verbally when systems are installed. Since this requirement is not part of the operating manuals, I maintain that my lack of annual cleaning is not a sufficient reason to maintain that Complete Water is not responsible for damages caused by their failure to install a reservoir drain line at the time of installation.
I finally informed Jackie that I planned to file a complaint with the BBB and the Chicago Tribune, if she was still unwilling to reimburse me for the $1,000 deductable that I had to pay. She said I should go ahead with filing the complaints if I do desired.
Please provide help to get Complete Water to reimburse me for the $1,000 deductable.
Based on my research, I believe that there are probably many water softener systems without drain lines on reservoir tanks that will prevent damage in the event of a reservoir tank overflow. I believe the Tribune could provide a valuable public service by reporting my problem in the newspaper and suggesting that all homeowners would be wise to check to see if their reservoir tank has a drain line.
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