Outrageous bill from SAWS (San Antonio, Austin: house, transfer, neighborhood)

[kayanne]

My husband and I moved to San Antonio mid-April. We just got our first SAWS bill, which shows we used almost 40,000 gallons at a cost of $314.68.

I looked through our past few years water bills from our homes in other states, and we averaged 4000 gallons/month (it's just 2 of us).

I actually turned off the sprinkler system here shortly after we moved in (it may have run a couple of times). If it had a leak in the magnitude of 35,000 gallons, our yard would surely be flooded (or at least soggy, and it is completely dry). We have a swimming pool, but I calculated that we have added perhaps 750 gallons of water (due to evaporation). The entire pool holds only 16,600 gallons. I can think of absolutely no reason for our water usage to be any higher than our past average, and certainly not TEN times higher!

I just spent half the morning on hold with SAWS customer service (no meaningful help), and then with SAWS Conservation Dept (no help).

So I am turning to my City Data comrades to see if anyone has any ideas for us. Who might I contact about this problem? For all the talk about conserving water, and the low level of the Edwards Aquifer, SAWS sure didn't seem interested in figuring out where these 40,000 gallons are coming from or going to!

Oh, other bits of info: the bills for the previous owner (also a 2-person household) ranged from as low as $50 to as high as $350, so we fall within that range. But it still makes no sense to me that any household could use that much water. I checked the meter at the street (while all known sources of water consumption were off) and it showed no water was being used, so that should rule out any leaks i.e. toilets or other pipes.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by kayanne

My husband and I moved to San Antonio mid-April. We just got our first SAWS bill, which shows we used almost 40,000 gallons at a cost of $314.68.

I looked through our past few years water bills from our homes in other states, and we averaged 4000 gallons/month (it's just 2 of us).

I actually turned off the sprinkler system here shortly after we moved in (it may have run a couple of times). If it had a leak in the magnitude of 35,000 gallons, our yard would surely be flooded (or at least soggy, and it is completely dry). We have a swimming pool, but I calculated that we have added perhaps 750 gallons of water (due to evaporation). The entire pool holds only 16,600 gallons. I can think of absolutely no reason for our water usage to be any higher than our past average, and certainly not TEN times higher!

I just spent half the morning on hold with SAWS customer service (no meaningful help), and then with SAWS Conservation Dept (no help).

So I am turning to my City Data comrades to see if anyone has any ideas for us. Who might I contact about this problem? For all the talk about conserving water, and the low level of the Edwards Aquifer, SAWS sure didn't seem interested in figuring out where these 40,000 gallons are coming from or going to!

Oh, other bits of info: the bills for the previous owner (also a 2-person household) ranged from as low as $50 to as high as $350, so we fall within that range. But it still makes no sense to me that any household could use that much water. I checked the meter at the street (while all known sources of water consumption were off) and it showed no water was being used, so that should rule out any leaks i.e. toilets or other pipes.

You probably have a leak somewhere. I had the same problem awhile back and turned out the leak (caused by a utility truck driving over the meter box) was in the alley between the meter box and my property line so I had no idea it was leaking. I never go into the alley. If you have an alley, be sure to check that.

Still, be prepared for a long nasty fight. SAWS tried to tell me that it was my responsibility and I refused to accept that the line between the retaining wall and the meter box is my responsiblity. I have no control over that area. Eventually they reduced the bill, but it took months for that to happen.

Don't even get me started on how long it took them to fix the leak. It almost felt like as if they didn't care about the water going down the alley into the drain.

[Rustybolt]

Welcome to San Antonio. I got the same sticker shock. If you have a sprinkler system, I believe you would be surprised at how fast they can dispense a very large volume of water. I doubt you have a leak. Learn how to read your meter and check it yourself to ensure the billing is legit. SAWS has been known to make mistakes in the meter reading process (or not reading it at all and estimating).

[kayanne]

Originally Posted by Azure110

You probably have a leak somewhere. I had the same problem awhile back and turned out the leak (caused by a utility truck driving over the meter box) was in the alley between the meter box and my property line so I had no idea it was leaking. I never go into the alley. If you have an alley, be sure to check that.

Still, be prepared for a long nasty fight. SAWS tried to tell me that it was my responsibility and I refused to accept that the line between the retaining wall and the meter box is my responsiblity. I have no control over that area. Eventually they reduced the bill, but it took months for that to happen.

Don't even get me started on how long it took them to fix the leak. It almost felt like as if they didn't care about the water going down the alley into the drain.

After I started this thread I found another SAWS thread, and read about your alley problem. So you understand my frustration!! No, we don't have an alley. And if we had a leak somewhere, the little triangle thing in the meter would be moving. It isn't.

Here's our timeline and some numbers:
April 2 Service was transferred from previous owners to us. Meter reading = 2241
April 19 We moved into the house (so no water was being used from 4/2 to 4/18, or perhaps I should say no water SHOULD have been used then)
May 6 (18 days after we moved in) SAWS took a meter reading of 2293 (a difference of 52 cubic feet, or 38,901 gal; almost 3 cu ft per day!)
May 12 (today) I checked the meter while speaking with SAWS Customer Service, and it reads 2294, a difference of only ONE cubic foot in the past 6 days.

If we continue at that rate of using 1 cu ft every 6 days, that would be only 5 cu ft per month (or 3740 gallons), which perfectly lines up with our long-term usage history. Though I'm not happy with this bill, and may never know how 38,901 gallons were used in the 18 days that we occupied the house during the first billing cycle (April 19 - May 6), at least I see hope that the situation will be better. I will be checking our meter every day for a while!!

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by kayanne

After I started this thread I found another SAWS thread, and read about your alley problem. So you understand my frustration!! No, we don't have an alley. And if we had a leak somewhere, the little triangle thing in the meter would be moving. It isn't.

Here's our timeline and some numbers:
April 2 Service was transferred from previous owners to us. Meter reading = 2241
April 19 We moved into the house (so no water was being used from 4/2 to 4/18, or perhaps I should say no water SHOULD have been used then)
May 6 (18 days after we moved in) SAWS took a meter reading of 2293 (a difference of 52 cubic feet, or 38,901 gal; almost 3 cu ft per day!)
May 12 (today) I checked the meter while speaking with SAWS Customer Service, and it reads 2294, a difference of only ONE cubic foot in the past 6 days.

If we continue at that rate of using 1 cu ft every 6 days, that would be only 5 cu ft per month (or 3740 gallons), which perfectly lines up with our long-term usage history. Though I'm not happy with this bill, and may never know how 38,901 gallons were used in the 18 days that we occupied the house during the first billing cycle (April 19 - May 6), at least I see hope that the situation will be better. I will be checking our meter every day for a while!!

If the meter is not moving then it sounds like Rustybolt is right. I would just keep calling them and asking to speak to the "higher ups" if they tell you nothing can be done. After awhile the management will get tired of talking to you and adjust the bill like in my case.

I don't think the SAW customer service reps have any ability to adjust the bill themselves (I could be wrong).

[grjr]

Is it possible that the 2241 number was misread and should have been 2291? Either that, or someone used a lot of water before you moved in or left something running in the house during that time.

[burgrat]

Is it possible someone was using or stealing the water between April 2-19? For example, construction or perhaps a neighbor using it?
Next to my house they are doing new construction and I made sure I had the outside faucet locked (I bought a faucet lock at Lowe's) so that it is not accessible while I'm at work, etc.
Maybe that happened to you? Good luck, I hope this gets fixed for you.

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by grjr

Is it possible that the 2241 number was misread and should have been 2291?

Not likely. A discrepancy like that would almost certainly have resulted in showing a negative-usage for the previous owner.

I'm going to take a guess here - if the sprinkler system was on a timer before you shut it off, it's possible the timer was set way too long, or otherwise was malfunctioning. I can't count how many times I've driven down flooded streets in my neighborhood (usually in the morning), only to find the water coming from somebody's sprinkler system that has been running for who knows how long. Apparently sprinkler timers are prone to turning the system on, but sometimes won't shut it off. Throw in a homeowner who is away, and you end up with the situation I described above.

[clay1]

This happened to my friend in Austin. They sent a bill for more water than can possibly flow through the meter, and yet the robotic drones at the utility company could not turn their brains on long enough to understand logic for a second.

The bill was about $16,000 or about 100 times the normal for the past 20 years.

"Maybe someone turned your outside faucet on as a joke"

It's maddeningly idiotic.

Basically the person reading the meter or entering data missed a decimal place and now you are doomed to yell and scream to the verge of heart attack trying to find anyone with some sense to fix it.

[Deep Forest]

In the last year my sewer charges went from $9.23 to $20.30 to $54.58. The last figure was without any water usage whatsoever during that month because I was away for that month. And no leaks. SAWS is using the same strategy that NISD uses to get more money. In this case it's "affordable water" instead of "it's for the children". They really think we're nothing but Sheeple out here. $54.58 without any water usage? Really?? This is nothing more than a money grab to pay on the billion dollar sewer upgrade judgement that the EPA laid on SAWS in 2010. Wake up people.