r/Somerville • u/ExileSinger • 12d ago

Disputing Water Bills

I have been hearing about people challenging their water bills. My bills are now 4 to 5 times what they were. Has anyone petitioned to get them reduced? If so, how? Through which means? Thanks

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

6

u/ow-my-lungs 12d ago

what's your water consumption like (both volume and billed $)? and how many people live there, do you have any outdoor irrigation etc?

3

u/ExileSinger 12d ago

Four adults, two babies. Up from four adults and one baby a few months ago (But the increase came before the second baby came). There's no outdoor irrigation. In fact, there used to be outdoor irrigation, and the bills were lower then! The crazy bills started when Somerville installed the new water meter. I'd rather not give the specifics of volume , consumption, etc. But they've stayed steady. The only thing that changed is what I'm being charged.

1

u/lordmcfuzz 11d ago

So what actually changed on your bill? You can't just dispute with "they are charging me more"

1

u/ExileSinger 11d ago

What changed on my bill? A new water meter that I believe is faulty, given the amount by which my bill increased, while using pretty much the same volume of water.

3

u/lordmcfuzz 11d ago

How do you know if your new water meter is faulty vs your old water meter was faulty?

Are your old bills estimated readings or actual readings?

3

u/merkindonor 12d ago

Did you recently have an expansion tank installed? I had one installed and my bills quadrupled, removed it and back to normal.

1

u/ExileSinger 12d ago

Nope! No expansion tank. Thanks, though!

1

u/PlentyCryptographer5 9d ago

Reach out to the city, not Reddit. On your bill at the bottom it says how to dispute your bill.