Water Department

The Town of Fairmount provides water service to all town residences. To obtain water service you must come into the Water Office, pay a deposit, and fill out a brief application. The Water Office accepts cash, checks, money orders, and credit/debit cards.

For after-hours emergencies, call (765) 948-4632 and press 3—this will connect you with a utility worker.

(765) 948-4313 • fairmountwater@netzero.com

For billing questions, please call the Clerk's Office at 765-948-4632.

Leak Detection

Leak Detection will pay for itself very quickly when you consider how much water can be lost through a pin-hole leak over a period of a month.
Water loss as a result of a leak 1/4" (0.63cm) diameter can mean a loss of 14,952 gallons a day. If undetected for a period of 34 days, over 1/4 million gallons are lost, plus water damage.
Leak Detection and Repair
Facts:
Studies show that dripping faucets and leaking toilets account for as much as 14% of all indoor water use, equivalent to 10 gallons (38 liters) per person of water lost per day.
Tips:
Check for leaky toilets
The most common source of leaks is the toilet. Check toilets for leaks by placing a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If after 15 minutes the dye shows up in the bowl, the toilet has a leak. Leaky toilets can usually be repaired inexpensively by replacing the flapper.
Check for Leaky Faucets
The next place to check for leaks is your sink and bathtub faucets. Dripping faucets can usually be repaired by replacing the rubber O-ring or washer inside the valve. Use WaterWiser's Drip Calculator to measure and estimate water wasted due to leaks.

Winter Tips

Put the freeze on frozen pipes! Every winter homes are damaged by frozen water pipes. Burst water pipes are a major inconvenience, but prevention is simple. To prevent frozen pipes in your home, follow these tips:
1. Eliminate drafts and repair broken windows. Seal cracks in basement and crawl space walls.
2. Insulate pipes must susceptible to freezing. Typically, those near walls closer to the outside, in crawl spaces and in the attic. Wrap pipes in unheated areas with weatherproof insulation or heat tape.
3. Disconnect garden hoses. If there is an indoor valve, shut off and drain the water supply to outdoor faucets.
4. Make sure you and your family know the location of your home's water shut-off valve. If a pipe bursts, shutting off the water promptly can help minimize damage.
Should you experience frozen water lines, please follow these tips. If bitter cold is predicted:
1. Open cabinet doors under sinks to allow air to circulate and prevent pipes from freezing in sub-zero weather.
2. Let water Flow, Zero or Below. Letting a THIN stream of water run when the temperature remains below zero can keep your pipes from freezing. There will no adjustment given on your bill for water used to prevent pipes from freezing. the repair charges for frozen pipes will cost you much more than the water used.
3. If you'll be away for several days, set the heat no lower than 55 degrees and turn off the water supply.
4. If your pipes Freeze, be careful of electric shock in areas of standing water. Don't try to thaw a pipe with an open flame or torch.
Where's the Master Valve:
Do you know where the master water supply valve is in your home? Does everyone in the family know where it is? If there is an emergency, will you need to know in a hurry. You can't afford to waste precious minutes searching while the basement floods or carpets are drenched.
These are the most likely locations:
1. Where the water supply enters your home. Before or after the water meter.
2. Near the clothes washer hook-up.
3. Near your water heater.
Attention Snow Birds!
Please call 765-948-4632 and let us know if you are going to be gone for any period of time over one month. Whenever your water meter does not register any consumption, we can only assume the meter has stopped working, unless you notify us that your are going to be gone. All records will be kept confidential; only the billing department will be aware that you are gone and the meter readers ill not even know that the house is vacant. This saves us sending letters trying to repair topped meters that are not broken. It is always a good idea to give us your forwarding address while you're away and even a phone number where you can be reached in case of emergencies.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

During the winter months customer need to be particularly mindful in preventing their pipes from freezing. There are some things should not do and other things you should.
1. If there is snow covering your meter pit, please leave it there. Snow cover acts as an insulating barrier and can help prevent the meter inside from freezing.
2. Don't open your pit or tamper with the meter valve inside. It's against local code for anyone by Utility personnel to work in the meter pis and vaults. Without the proper tools the valves can be fragile and this damage can be charged back to the customer. Also, being underground chamber, the pits can sometimes collect dangerous gases from other sources.
When freezing is a possibility, there are some things you can do to help prevent disasters.
1. Open vanity and cabinet doors to expose pipes to the inside, warmer temperatures.
2. Let a small (pencil-lead thin) stream of water run. Moving water is much less likely to freeze than water standing in a pipe. Make sure all crawl space opening are closed and if possible insulate the opening.
3. Use wrap insulation on pipes in unheated areas.
If your pipes freeze, FIRST call the Fairmount Utilities at 765-948-4632. If the problem is in our meter pit we will thaw it our and get you back in service. If the problem is beyond the meter in your plumbing we will be able to identify it and you will then need to contact a plumber.

Thawing of Frozen Water Lines

The typical symptom of a frozen water line(s) is that one (1) or more of the water fixtures in a building do no provide water. It is necessary to isolate the problem (determine where it is frozen) so that the line can be thawed and to determine whose financial responsibility it is. Since the layout of the individual plumbing systems caries widely, the process of of elimination provided below to isolate the problem is intended to be of a general nature and may need to be tailored to individual sites.
1. The customer should check individual faucets and appliances to see if all water has stopped or only at specific locations with the building.
a. If some faucets are dry and others still work, a line is frozen inside the building and the customer should contact a plumber of his choice at his expense.
b. If all faucets and appliances are dry, the customer should notify the Water Department for further checking.
2. Knowing that all faucets and appliances are dry, the Water Department will disconnect the water meter to determine if water is reaching the building from the water main through the underground service line.
a. If water is reaching the building, this also indicates a frozen line inside the building and the customer should proceed according to paragraph 1-a above.
b. If water is not reaching the building, the Water Department will proceed to thaw their end of the underground service line at the Water Department's expense.
3. If water still does not flow into the building after the Water Department has thawed their end of the underground service line, then it has been determined that the frozen portion is in the customer's end of the underground service line. The customer is financially responsible and may hire a private contractor to thaw the line at his own expense.
4. After a frozen underground water service line has been thawed, it is strongly recommended that the customer allow a small continuous stream to flow from any faucet to prevent re-freezing. the cost of water used for this purpose is the customer's responsibility.
**NOTE: Plastic underground service line cannot be thawed.
The Fairmount Water Office can be contacted by calling 765-948-4632 and for after hours and emergency shut offs follow the directions on the voice mail. If you must leave a message someone will contact you shortly.