Water woes
Ron Barrett
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
I LIVE in north Lyon County. My water is supplied by Rural Water District 5. In 2004, I had eight employees and a family of four. I read my meter every month, as always. My annual water usage was 72,000 gallons, a monthly average of 6,000 gallons. In May, I filled a swimming pool that required 5,700 gallons, yet I used only 3,000 gallons in May and only 4,000 gallons in June. Oh well, I can live with that.
I was out of state working most of 2005; my meter readings began to skip a month or two. My water bills started to get higher and higher; I mentioned it to the water company, and their reply was that I must have a leak. They did not seem concerned about the waste. I used 121,000 gallons for the year — about 10,000 gallons per month.
At the end of November 2006, I had had no employees that year. With only a family of four, I had paid for 154,000 gallons of water before receiving December’s bill. Damn, that water leak. In November, I was billed for 117,00 gallons and 14,000 gallons in December for a grand total of 285,000 gallons for the year. They were still not concerned about a water leak but were just happy to charge me the $650.
So for 2004, I paid $249.56 in water bills; 2005, $423.50; 2006, $973. Don’t think I’m going to be able to afford 2007. They are coming to shut off my water if they can only get that 1,500-pound safe off the meter lid. I call it my watersafe.
Since I’ve restricted their free access to the meter, I’ve been using only about 5,000 or 6,000 gallons of water a month. I think I can afford that. What happened to the water leak? How did it get fixed?
There were no repairs at my house. Where did all that water go?
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
Keep up the good work Ron. I really appreciate stories like this especially in Lyon county. You are a very smart man!!!
May 22, 2007 at 2:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tknaak (inactive user) says...
Did you really put a safe on top of your meter?! That is brilliant! I respect you for not accepting what they told you and breaking the rules when they needed to be broken. I hope it all turns out good for you in the end.
May 23, 2007 at 3:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
d17 (anonymous) says...
Did it occur to you that your water leak is your responsibility? Not the water districts?
May 25, 2007 at 4:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scout07 (anonymous) says...
I guess you had to actually read the story. There was no water leak. Daa!
May 25, 2007 at 6:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
d17 (anonymous) says...
I actually did read the letter. It is apparent the water use has been doubling each year. Hence my suggestion that the owner should attempt to figure out where those extra gallons are going. Since a water meter is simple mechanical device that only registers when water is passing through it how did it register the "extra" gallons unless they were going somewhere?
May 25, 2007 at 7:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
d17--The author's point is that the county was abusing their own "meter reading" powers. It had nothing to do with water-use or water going through the meter.......this is not new for people living outside the city limits.
M
May 25, 2007 at 8:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
d17 (anonymous) says...
I still don't get it. How does a utility "abuse meter reading powers"? The reading shown on the bill should match the reading on the meter - except of course the meter reading will always be several thousand gallons ahead of the billing due to the time lag of monthly billing.
Was the meter read incorrectly? Numbers transposed? If so then wouldn't the error be caught on the next month's billing? Or, is the home owner claiming he is consistently, over several years, being billed for more gallons than what is shown on the meter register?
May 28, 2007 at 8:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
daveedailey (anonymous) says...
The utility companies do stuff like that all the time. They spot check meters in the county to make sure that the owners do not cheat the company on water usage. Believe me, they do make mistakes. Several years in a row they reported my wrong so I had a triple bill to pay because they will not come and reread the meter. Of course, I did not have to pay a bill for three months.
May 31, 2007 at 12:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scout07 (anonymous) says...
One thing I've learned through the years is that anything and everything can be manipulated. The question is with how much ease or difficulty, to the consumer its all irrelevant without proof. Eventually the watersafe gets moved the noose snaps down and the bill gets paid. At times it seems the best we can hope for is a little satisfaction in knowing we faught the good fight. And that the fights not over.
June 2, 2007 at 11:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )