Residents in Kaunas district unable to become municipal water clients due to private network disputes

Residents of a newly built neighbourhood in Kaunas district are unable to become direct clients of the municipal water utility Kauno vandenys due to unresolved debts and infrastructure ownership disputes, the utility claims the homeowners assumed the risk when purchasing property, LRT reports.

A resident, identified only as Laura, told LRT’s investigative programme Girdi that homeowners in the Žiedo Street quarter of Vijūkai have been trying for years to switch to individual water billing under Kauno vandenys, but remain stuck with collective invoicing through an intermediary company. The neighbourhood’s water supply network runs through a privately owned plot, and the landowner has refused permission to connect to the municipal system.

According to Laura, the developer initially promised to transfer the network to Kauno vandenys for a symbolic fee of €1, but the handover never materialised. Instead, residents discovered their street owed nearly €15,000 in unpaid water bills, accumulated during construction when usage was estimated rather than metered. “We were told the bills were based on average consumption, but once the meters were read, it turned out we’d used much more,” she said.

When a pipe burst recently, Kauno vandenys refused to repair it, stating the residents were not their clients. “There are 55 apartments here, many with small children, and no one knows where to turn for help,” Laura said. Appeals to local elders and the utility’s management have yielded no solution.

Laura Dvaranauskienė, head of Kauno vandenys’ subscriber department, confirmed the network technically belongs to the utility but is managed under a contract with the developer’s company, Tranvia. “Until private networks are formally transferred to Kauno vandenys, billing can only be done collectively via quarter-level meters,” she stated in written comments. The utility maintains it has repeatedly urged developers to handover infrastructure but cannot offer individual contracts until ownership is resolved.

Dvaranauskienė added that buyers in such developments “assume the risk” of potential service limitations when purchasing property served by private networks.