Each second meter in flats does not meet technical standards

One in two water meters installed in citizens’ apartments does not correspond to the technical standards: a part of them are not verified, having their five-year term expired, while another part are not installed according to the project, and many of them are manipulated, head of dwelling-communal Division Mihai Solcan says. Solcan says that specialists who inventory the meters present to the owners in written everything they must undertake for bringing the meters in order, while the owners have to comply within one week. Inspections and traced shortcomings are also referring to the heat meters installed in the dwelling blocks. There are also counted the sections of the radiators in apartments, because, Solcan says, “many of persons install additional sections and this way they steal heat from their neighbours”. “An 18-cu m-room must have a 7-section-radiator, not a 14-section one”, the quoted source says. In such cases, it is drawn up a document and there are given indications to dismount the additional sections within a week, otherwise the owners might be sued, the cited source said. The process of verifying the indexes of water meters in apartments, initiated by “Apa-Canal Chisinau” (ACC), “Termocom” JSC along with the block managers, started in January in Botanica district. If the residents do not ensure the access to the flats, when registering the next bills, the suppliers will not take into account the indexes that will be presented by the apartments’ owners. The registration of the bills will be carried out in accordance with the norms provided for the persons that did not install their own meters. The maintenance and installation of the meters are not reflected in the charge for water, and that is why ACC can not provide these services on its own account, head of the Subscribers Service within the Enterprise Mihai Golban earlier told Info-Prim Neo. As Golban says, the normative documents envisage that on expiring the five-year deadline the meters must be verified, so that only the meters that have this term expired must be taken out and replaced with the new ones, without performing adjustments to the meters that normally function, have not their five-year term expired and that show data according to those presented to the manager of the dwelling fund. Such inspections are to take place each year. At present, about 40,000 consumers, or 20% of the total, do not have meters at all and pay the water consumption according to the established norms.