Anyone's water bill increase dramatically lately? (Tampa, St. Petersburg: how much, house, construction)

[Diesel350z]

My bill averages around $40/month and then all the sudden I get hit with a $120 bill!! Called the water company and they just blamed it on me. What should I do? Then I read this article.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/jan.../c_2/#comments

TAMPA - Fielding 500 complaints of soaring water bills, city utility officials have steadfastly said nearly all the problems are on the residents' side of the water meter and no fault of the water department. Water bills in the thousands of dollars can be blamed on insidiously dripping faucets, running toilets or leaking sprinklers, Tampa's public works director Steve Daignault said. Or it could be that freezes cracked pipes or that irrigating new sod soaked up a Niagara-load of water.
Sometimes people simply aren't aware of how much water they use, Daignault said.
But not everyone accepts the city's explanation for bills that leaped three times or more above normal. News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune have received dozens of e-mails and telephone calls from people with theories about the apparent spike in water bills.
A common suggestion is a lazy meter reader who guesses how much water a customer used and doesn't look at the meter.
"When I looked in the ground at mine today, the dial was covered in mud and has been for a long time. I don't see how they could manually read it without removing the mud," Jerry McGinty wrote in an e-mail.
Tom McDaniel, a home inspector for 22 years who checks water meters as part of his job, had the same idea.
"Many of the meters that I come across are covered with soil that obviously has been there for a long time. In order to read the meter, the soil has to be cleared away," he said in an e-mail.
Maggie Beard, of Dover, questioned in an e-mail whether a neighbor could be stealing the water.
"Would it be simple to just run a hose from a neighbor's house when they are not home or at night when asleep and take a lot of water?"
Charles Hazen offered a different answer: air in the water lines.
"The problem is air in the water system caused by construction. Air causes the meters to spin at high rates showing increased consumption. Florida is so flat it is difficult to get air out of the system with relief air valves," he wrote.
Meter readings return to normal once the air is purged, and any problem appears to be resolved, he added.
The city's tiered rate system, instituted in May, was a frequent suggestion.
"The problem with the high water bills is not due to a problem with leaky faucets or overwatering. The problem is because of the tiered system that you all implemented in late 2010," New Tampa resident Spencer Rogers wrote in a letter to the Tampa City Council.
The new rates dramatically increase what the city charges as a resident uses more water. The highest level of the rates can be double or triple the previous peak charges.
That, combined with the city's practice of sending bills for an average use, can yield a whopping bill, Brady Sneath wrote.
"Basically, if the city underestimates a customer's water usage for one or more months, then when the meter is read, those underestimated amounts are billed all at once. However, because of the new tiered rate structure, they are billed at much higher water rates, potentially as much as nine times greater than what the customer should have paid."

[ozlo]

I've been hearing of and reading similar reports the last few days.
It seems to me the water company was trying to pull a little scam, but mistakenly opened up the floodgates (no pun intended) by falsely up-charging a few too many customers. Had they spaced things out and did this with only a relative handful of customers each month, the scam would not have been noticed and would have continued unabated.

[Innertuber]

I don't know the cause but last night a High School jumped in the fray. Normal monthly bill was ~$15,000, they got charged $60,000 for December. The kicker is the school was closed for something like 20 days that month. Fighting with the utility company is only slightly more fun than the cable company. Ughhhhhhhhhhh.

[andy5340]

I am having the same issue. I just bought a house and was surprised to see a $120 water bill when my highest is usually around $40.
I checked for leaks, no problem there. Then I read the meter. Funny thing was they claimed my meter was 271 on Jan 26, yet when I took a reading on Feb 14th, the meter read 271.69.
I'm convinced they did not read the meter when my account was started and have no idea when or if they've taken a reading since I've been in the house.
I'm going to contact the previous owner and see if I can get a bill or two from them.

[BucFan]

Tampa water meters not always read when they're supposed to be - St. Petersburg Times

[Starr.R]

Wow...I really need to check my bill. I have it on auto-debit right now so I haven't looked at it for a while. Geez...Ya just can't trust anyone any more.

[BucFan]

My bill is always higher in the winter months - can't really explain why. My May bill that I just paid today was only $29. Can't think of anything different in May than in Dec/November - in fact, I think I water the plants around the house even more and wash the car a couple times a month (lawn is covered by external water paid by the HOA).

[Davachka]

Our bill is usually $100 or so and last month it was $180. Nothing changed except started doing a load of laundry every day ...doubt that would really make it increase that much! But water bills are just higher here in general, they were never above $50 when we lived north.

[LKJ1988]

The city needs to make money so they are doing anything they can to get away with it.

[kanemike]

Our average for five years is about 100 dollars.
We put in a small area of sod in the back yard in March and early April.
To my surprise the June bill just came and said we owe 1515 dollars and used 216000 gallons in May. No way. Our yard is soooooo small and we have a sprinkler system. Today I hired a plumber to come and inspect and he only found a small leak in a shower head (drip).
Do you think it is possible to use 7000 gallons a day when your bill has been consistent for five years. They say we owe and I do not know what to do?
I read that sometimes they delay the reading so the bill can be tiered when they catch up so the bill can be charged as much as 9 times higher.

I have a wife and four kids and really feel like I am being taken advantage of by the utility company. What steps would be best to resolve this mess?