Frantic, a resident of a small Midwestern town called the water department to report a leak that was flooding her newly remodeled basement. DPW personnel responded quickly, but discovered that the cast iron lid on the outdoor curb box was frozen with rust.The only way to stop the deluge was to remove the lid so that a shut-off key could plunge down a narrow 6-foot shaft and reach the water valve positioned below the frost line. The field worker, mindful of the homeowner’s panic, was about to return to his truck for a saw to cut off the top of
