CVWD alerts restaurants to sewer line monitoring scam
The Coachella Valley Water District is warning businesses in food services about a scam involving false claims of a federal mandate for the installation and monitoring of grease/solvent waste management equipment in their sewer lines.
Officials with the water district said the mandate doesn’t exist, and CVWD generally prohibits anyone from modifying sewer lines.
CVWD released a statement Monday describing the scam. A company that calls itself ‘Network Piping Monitoring System (NPS), which uses a post office box in Tustin, CA, is sending out notices to food service businesses throughout Southern California, requiring them to complete an enclosed “activation form’ while billing them $81 for “1 year lateral sewer monitoring and leak detection”.
Officials said there’s some additional technical jargon meant to mislead the business into believing the information is legitimate.
The false mandate has been titled ‘July 1, 2009 Grease/Solvent Waste Management Initiative’, with NPS claiming its $680 device has to be installed at any business selling food products.
If your business is contacted by NPS, or other companies making similar claims, never give out any personal or business-related information, send money or grant permission to install any equipment on adjacent sewer lines, officials said in the release.
If you think you’ve been contacted by this scam artist, or any others, you should retain the billing information or any additional paperwork you receive, and then call police or the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
If you have questions about applicable regulations associated with sewage removal, you can always call the Coachella Valley Water District at (760) 398-2651.
