Barb Mowad went to the basement of her split-level home in Hopewell on a Saturday evening in November and found water on the floor of the utility room.

The hot water heater had sprung a leak.

Fortunately, the water was flowing to a floor drain and not the carpeted part of the basement.

Mrs. Mowad, 71, a retired English and reading teacher who worked in the Hopewell Area School District for 37 years, went back upstairs and read her most recent Dominion Peoples gas bill.

"I was sure I had replacement coverage for the water heater, but I couldn't find it on any of my monthly statements from Dominion," she said. "My husband is disabled and I needed the hot water restored as soon as possible."

Her husband, Richard, 73, retired after 35 years as an electronic technician for Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. and its successor, LTV. He had a stroke in 2004.

Their daughter, Kris, and son-in-law, Greg Barlion, live next door. They came over, confirmed that the water tank had to be replaced and recommended their plumber -- Jeff Herwig.

Mrs. Mowad called him. Mr. Herwig said he'd come out on Monday to install a new water heater, and he did.

"I was relieved," Mrs. Mowad said. "I didn't mind heating water on the stove on Sunday. It was sort of like camping out indoors.

"But it was only going to be for one day, so I managed."

A month later, as she prepared to pay her Duquesne Light bill, she noticed on page four that she did have a repair/replacement warranty for her water heater.

"I never looked at my electric bill because I have a gas hot water tank," she said.

Why was the warranty on her electric bill?

It turned out she had signed up for the Dominion electric supply offer some years ago and also had signed up for the water tank warranty.

If you sign up for an alternate electric generation supplier, you still get a bill from Duquesne Light because it owns the wires and poles that deliver the electricity.

Mrs. Mowad called Dominion and asked to be reimbursed for the $600 she paid Mr. Herwig. She was told to send a letter explaining what had happened to Dominion Products & Services, which administers the warranty program, and to include a copy of Mr. Herwig's bill.

She did. When it got back to her six weeks later, it denied her request because she had failed to call Dominion first.

It has a list of plumbing companies that handle the warranty program. She asked the company to reconsider, especially since she had been paying $4.95 a month for the warranty coverage. That request also was denied.

"I don't think it's fair," she said when she contacted me last month.

"We have coverage if they have to replace the gas and water lines and for restoration costs if they have to dig up our yard. It costs $15.95 a month. The warranty programs are a good idea, especially when you're older."

I called Dominion Gas spokesman Elmore Lockley, explained Mrs. Mowad's problem and forwarded a copy of an e-mail she sent me. A few days later, he replied that "the situation has been resolved to the customer's satisfaction."

When I called for more details, Mr. Lockley said the administrators of the warranty program "reviewed her case and determined that it was appropriate" to reimburse her. He cautioned, however, that people "have to read what they sign up for, and with whom, and then keep track of that information."

"I'm very pleased," Mrs. Mowad said when I called her. "A man named Bill called and said I would be reimbursed for the entire cost of the new water heater. I didn't get his last name. He seemed to be in a hurry to get off the phone."

In addition to the repair or replacement warranty for hot water tanks for $4.95 a month, Dominion Products & Services offers the following warranties that are also billed monthly:

External gas line repair/replacement ($3.75); in-home gas line repair/replacement ($2.50); furnace repair ($4.95); external waterline ($3.25); external sewer line ($4.75) and air-conditioning repair ($4.95).

If you have an older home, any one of those warranties can save you thousands of dollars.

And, if you get any of them, keep the paperwork with your utility bills as a reminder.

Scam alert

Pat Russo, of Plum, recently received a call from a man in Jamaica who said she had won $5.5 million and promised to send it to her if she would wire him $582.27 "within the next hour" for various fees related to her "winnings."

"I may be senior, but I'm not senile," said Mrs. Russo, 77, a retired businesswoman. "They'd have to get up pretty early in the morning to get me to fall for a stupid scam like that.

"But I'm worried about other senior citizens who might fall for it. I'd appreciate it if you'd warn them about it."

Consider it done.