If your local DPW is like my local DPW, they don't always drive marked trucks, they don't properly identify themselves, and they act like total assholes.

(Short form of my story: I live in a duplex. Got up, turned on water...no water. Heard banging around in basement. Went downstairs, saw some odd guy in basement. Said (an admittedly sarcastic) "Hello...who are you?" He turns, looks at me with disdain, then turns back to his work and says, "who are you?" I said, "I live upstairs, who are you?" He says, "The water guy." It continued on in that vein. Needless to say, I was Unimpressed.)