Well, since they have their finger in the pie so to speak, ask them what programs are available to help fund the replacement.
I'm really interested to hear what they have to say about the siphon system - why it's not allowed. If they don't reply, keep pressing. It might be that they just don't know how they work, and once they find out they'll say yes.
If there isn't a lot of water in the pipe, I wonder if a mini GoPro camera on a small RC car would work?
