Current City Council Not Helping
Non-Credible Water Bills
I have been saddled with water bills that are not credible. The current city council has yet to intervene on my behalf. I am hoping that if my new meter continues to demonstrate my previous one was erroneous that the council may eventually compel the water department to refund some of our overcharges. Here is a small article on the matter:
I have been at my address for 6 years and our water bills must be inaccurate. There are 2 adults and 2 young girls here. We don't water the lawns and use bottled water for cooking and drinking. Despite this our water bills are excessive. 3 times in the past 6 years we got bills that claimed we used 4500 cubic feet of water. The last time was a few months ago and the bill was for over $700.00! During better months we are billed $200-300.00. It's almost like paying a second housing rent some months.
My neighbors report to me that their bills are usually a little over $100.00. I had Al Nelson from the Durham water conservation department look into it. He had our meter changed, then had it upgraded to an electronic meter to track usage better. He could find no leaks and no real explanation but says something isn't right. He says our usage is showing 6 times what is average for a family of our size--it's not like we are running a bottled water business out of our kitchen. He said billing should have got him involved a long time ago but he's stumped.
I was further upset after doing the math. They are claiming we used 4500+ cubic feet, that's 33,000 gallons in 61 days. That's 563 gallons every day! That would mean we were using 23+ gallons of water every hour, every day, for 2 months.
This is ridiculous.The bureaucracy here is a barrier to justice and fair treatment. No NC state senators or representatives have acknowledged my complaints. The billing department acts like we're just whining about our bill, the County Commissioners ignored my phone call and subsequent email, and the city manager Tom Bonfield referred me back to the water department. I feel sure that either our fitting have been incorrect or our meter has been malfunctioning. Either way we don't use hundreds of gallons of water daily, Durham doesn't care, and we've been overcharged by thousands over the past six years. This issue is widespread according to the news (including Atlanta, Charlotte and Philadelphia) and it is wrong that there is no oversight agency that can check for inaccuracies--if something is awry with a bill you typically have no recourse.
If anyone else in Durham is experiencing inflated usage claims please post a comment or email us at otto.ladensack.us@member.mensa.org .
Thanks, Otto
(The original page above, with working links, is at: http://ottoladensack.blogspot.com/2011/02/…)
Here are video links that further explain my situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmFhYF4SRek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5avlIF3bt94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRTUvn_txk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_tcfZnA7E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH6vjCAkoVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u56qq_C_hUw
The 3rd, 5th and 6th clip are most telling but all are concise. Thank you for considering my situation.
Non-Credible Water Bills
I have been saddled with water bills that are not credible. The current city council has yet to intervene on my behalf. I am hoping that if my new meter continues to demonstrate my previous one was erroneous that the council may eventually compel the water department to refund some of our overcharges. Here is a small article on the matter:
I have been at my address for 6 years and our water bills must be inaccurate. There are 2 adults and 2 young girls here. We don't water the lawns and use bottled water for cooking and drinking. Despite this our water bills are excessive. 3 times in the past 6 years we got bills that claimed we used 4500 cubic feet of water. The last time was a few months ago and the bill was for over $700.00! During better months we are billed $200-300.00. It's almost like paying a second housing rent some months.
My neighbors report to me that their bills are usually a little over $100.00. I had Al Nelson from the Durham water conservation department look into it. He had our meter changed, then had it upgraded to an electronic meter to track usage better. He could find no leaks and no real explanation but says something isn't right. He says our usage is showing 6 times what is average for a family of our size--it's not like we are running a bottled water business out of our kitchen. He said billing should have got him involved a long time ago but he's stumped.
I was further upset after doing the math. They are claiming we used 4500+ cubic feet, that's 33,000 gallons in 61 days. That's 563 gallons every day! That would mean we were using 23+ gallons of water every hour, every day, for 2 months.
This is ridiculous.The bureaucracy here is a barrier to justice and fair treatment. No NC state senators or representatives have acknowledged my complaints. The billing department acts like we're just whining about our bill, the County Commissioners ignored my phone call and subsequent email, and the city manager Tom Bonfield referred me back to the water department. I feel sure that either our fitting have been incorrect or our meter has been malfunctioning. Either way we don't use hundreds of gallons of water daily, Durham doesn't care, and we've been overcharged by thousands over the past six years. This issue is widespread according to the news (including Atlanta, Charlotte and Philadelphia) and it is wrong that there is no oversight agency that can check for inaccuracies--if something is awry with a bill you typically have no recourse.
If anyone else in Durham is experiencing inflated usage claims please post a comment or email us at otto.ladensack.us@member.mensa.org .
Thanks, Otto
(The original page above, with working links, is at: http://ottoladensack.blogspot.com/2011/02/…)
Here are video links that further explain my situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmFhYF4SRek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5avlIF3bt94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXRTUvn_txk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_tcfZnA7E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH6vjCAkoVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u56qq_C_hUw
The 3rd, 5th and 6th clip are most telling but all are concise. Thank you for considering my situation.
Posted by Otto.Ladensack on October 8, 2011 at 10:10 PM
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