If the state does not allow anyone to use water except those who have meters – as is the case in most countries – it is not permissible to use tricks to take this water without paying for it, whether it is because no meter has been installed, or because it has been sabotaged, or because you avoid paying the bills, because that is cheating, deceiving and consuming public wealth unlawfully. Allah Ta’ala says: O you who have believed, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent [4:29].