I would focus on that "part that had to be ordered." Nail someone down
and find out what part ordered from where. Obviously the
water-suppliers aren't among the gardeners and may have no clue how
critical this is. If you have a lot of money, hire a plumber to check
out the situation. If you don't have a lot of money, ask everyone you
know if they have a 2nd cousin's nephew who's a plumber or knows
*anything* about municipal water, and might take a look. Promise
tomatoes or whatever you're trying to grow. If it's not a
highly-specialized industrial fitting that's needed, perhaps someone
in the newsgroups could help.