Irrational Atlanta Water Bills (Sandy Springs: houses, neighborhood, live in)

[mjedwards409]

I searched the forum, and I've seen a few topics on this from 3+ years ago, so I decided to repost to get some more up to date feedback....

My water bill is wildly inconsistent, and the patterns lead me to believe that Atlanta is not even truly tracking my usage. For example, my past 3 months in my 2,400 sq ft house were $88 exactly for each of the 3 months. Then, suddenly, this month's bill was $230, and they are claiming more than double the usage, (5,000 gallons more), than last month. Our habits have not changed at all, or nearly enough to cause this much of a change. We do not have any leaks and we never left a hose, sink, etc. running for any extended period of time.

There are several reasons that tell me this is BS:

a) This happens to me twice a year or so, in the exact same way. I will get billed similar amounts for 3-6 months, and then WHAM, a huge bill more than double the average. I have never changed anything habit or leak wise, and it generally goes back down to normal the following month.

b) This happens to dozens of people in my neighborhood, and generally in the same month. (I've already talked to 4 other people today and the exact same thing has happened to them.

c) The fact that I go months at a time with an identical water bill tells me they aren't truly tracking usage.

Has anyone else experienced this, and have an idea of what caused it? Considering Atlanta Watershed is a legalized monopoly, I'm guessing I have no recourse here? I've called to dispute several times, and I just get "touch sh**, pay your bill or we'll cut off your water."

Any feedback is appreciated.

[space cadet]

Is there a letter 'E' following either your "Prior Meter Read" or "Current Meter Read" numbers on your bill? If so, this means they estimated usage because they could not get a reading, and your meter is likely broken.

[mjedwards409]

Originally Posted by space cadet

Is there a letter 'E' following either your "Prior Meter Read" or "Current Meter Read" numbers on your bill? If so, this means they estimated usage because they could not get a reading, and your meter is likely broken.

No there is no letter E. It says "actual reading". That said, how does this explain my entire neighborhood getting hit with supposedly double water usage, all in the same month? It seems unlikely that all 300 houses had a toilet leak or left a hose on in the same month.

[red92s]

They round your actual usage to whole CCF numbers, which is why it's possible to go months in a row with bills that match to the penny.

The random high bills I've got no explanation for.

[space cadet]

Originally Posted by mjedwards409

No there is no letter E. It says "actual reading". That said, how does this explain my entire neighborhood getting hit with supposedly double water usage, all in the same month? It seems unlikely that all 300 houses had a toilet leak or left a hose on in the same month.

Yeah, no idea on cause of that. If I were you, I would talk to all of your neighbors and convince them to contact your City Council representative en masse. If all of you contact him/her, it will make an impression and perhaps get some answers.

[K1404]

Originally Posted by red92s

The random high bills I've got no explanation for.

Someone has to make up for the mayor's (and last mayor's) unpaid bills.

[AnsleyPark]

This is a chronic Atlanta problem.

[atlHawks]

My water bill has been the same for three straight months, to the penny. It's a little odd. Has anyone seen this before?

[pvande55]

I'm always curious about local water rates. By me it's about 1.2 cents per gallon. So for 5000 gallons that would be $60 plus customer charge.

[SEAandATL]

I had a similar problem with last month's bill. My bill was $358 compared to the average of around $60 a month. I have NWP since I live in Sandy Springs and not the city of Atlanta. I called the company and they opened up up a case, and I had a plumber check for leaks and found none.