Water theft is a crime. Anyone who uses water without our consent or unlawfully
reconnects a service that has been turned off is in violation of the law and is
subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.
Section 4933.19(A) of the Ohio Revised Code states "No person shall knowingly
consume...water that has not been correctly registered because a meter,
conduit, or attachment has been tampered with as defined in Section 4933.18 of
the Revised Code or knowingly use service that has been disconnected by a
utility and reconnected without consent of the utility."
A person does not need to get caught tampering with a meter to be prosecuted.
The person presumed responsible is the person who possesses the tampered-with
or unlawfully connected meter. It may seem that a water thief is only
stealing from EHRWSD, but in reality the water thief is stealing from our all
of our customers. At a time when many of our customers are working hard at
water conservation and trying to cut their water costs, the water thieves,
who tamper with meters so that they might obtain "free" service, drive up
the water costs for our other customers.
Our employees are trained to detect signs of meter tampering and water
theft. We also depend upon tips from our customers. If you notice
something suspicious, please call us at 740-474-3114 or 1-800-474-3114.
Water theft is a crime. Anyone who uses water without our consent or unlawfully
reconnects a service that has been turned off is in violation of the law and is
subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.