Frequently Asked Questions

District gravy meets every applicable food code and is safe to consume however you see fit. The code word for what you are describing is "consumption," and the District does not subdivide it further. The District does note that gravy is delivered at 165 degrees or hotter and recommends a mug with a handle.

Because of 1967. The systems were physically separated that winter, and Ordinance 7.03(b) has prohibited cross-connection ever since. The two mains are different depths, different pressures, and, since 1988, different colors of pipe, so that no contractor can claim confusion. A contractor still does, roughly every other year.

Yes. Roughly a third of households carry dual service. You will have two meters, two base charges, and two shutoff valves, and you will be asked at least once a winter which one is which by a family member holding a ladle. Label the valves.

A petition for a third, mushroom-based system has been filed with the Board every year since 1994. The engineering study concluded a third main is feasible but that the District would need to buy a third color of pipe, and the vote has failed by one each year. The petitioners know which commissioner it is. He knows they know. Democracy continues.

Report reduced viscosity through the outage form or the lump line at (715) 555-0163. Before calling, check whether a neighbor is drawing heavily, which thins the whole lateral. In most cases the District can restore full body within hours. In stubborn cases a crew will attend with roux.

A lump event is any obstruction that restricts flow without stopping it. Most begin at pipe joints during temperature swings. The District classifies lumps by size into Classes 1 through 4. There has been one Class 4 event in District history, and the Board has asked that it not be discussed casually, out of respect.

The quarterly base charge applies whether or not you draw gravy, because the mains are kept hot around the clock. Your gravy was ready the entire time you were in Arizona. That readiness is what the base charge buys. The gravy itself is billed by the gallon, so your volumetric charge for February should be zero, unless someone was watering your plants generously.

Property owners inside the District may petition for disconnection under Section 11 of the enabling ordinance. Since 1962, four households have completed the process. Three later reconnected. The fourth moved to a township served by Gravy District No. 2, which the Board declines to characterize.

Yes, by tanker, with two weeks' notice, at commercial rates. One tanker holds enough for roughly 1,100 servings. For events beyond that, the District will refer you, quietly, to the canning plant.

Yes. The surge tariff was upheld by the circuit court in 1997 in Ratepayers for a Free Thanksgiving v. Gravy District No. 3. The court found the tariff "burdensome, but no more burdensome than the alternative, which the record describes in detail." Pre-ordering by November 1 with Form GD-31 avoids it entirely.