@James & Greg: thanks for the poop about Veolia. That certainly aligns with my experience as a customer/outside observer; not particularly helpful or knowledgeable help desk, opaque or non-existent community outreach, the general feeling like actually serving their residential customers runs counter to their business plan.

I can only imagine they bought a water company in southern New York State because they knew that there was going to be a lot of tech expansion in the region - not because the existing Joe Homeowner market was so lucrative.

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Dave, when I left Veolia they asked me to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and a document to say I would not work for one of their competitors for 12 months after I left Veolia, and I would not attempt to entice or take Veolia staff to any new role I accepted.

As these elements were not in my contract of employment that I signed / agreed when I joined the company, I told them as politely as I could to "F@ck off." 

The piping has exceeded its life expectance and will continue to rupture, but there does not seem to be any proactive repair measures planned.”

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Keep the Calgary example in mind when you hear people complaining about municipal taxes.  Too many politicians got elected by racing to the bottom on lower taxes.  Pretty much every municipality now has what they call an infrastructure deficit, ie, the difference between what is spent vs what should be spent to keep roads and pipes reliable.