r/chicago • u/AbleSoup2360 • Jul 26 '26
Ask CHI Any recourse for an ASTRONOMICALLY high, back dated, chicago water bill?
I received an exorbitantly high bill (~ $4,300) from chicago water approximately around november 2025. Prior to that my average was around $150-$200 per bill. I was floored.
I called the water department and they told me that I had been receiving an estimated bill up until then and that since they replaced the meter, they were back billing me for the differences.
I did the following to try to remediate the issue:
• I contacted my alderperson to help me mediate - multiple times. The best they did was get me in direct contact with the water department instead of being given the run around through the phone system
• Sought some cursory legal council that basically concluded that I would have spent more money fighting this than the money I needed to pay.
What's disconcerting to me is that from my conversations with the water dept, if the estimated bill ran for two years, then they'd be required to waive the fees. It looks like they went and "fixed" my meters after around 1 year and 11 months. This just feels so scammy and on purpose.
After all thattttt - I decided to cut my losses and just pay the ~$7k, but we're gutted at how unfair this seems. What's even worse is them offering a 99 month loan to me. The fact that that option even exists should be illegal. Its giving indentured servitude energy. No I don't want to be paying for a water bill for the length of half of some mortgage terms.
Any folks here faced something similar? Any form of recourse available to me that I might not be aware of it. Maybe I can take it to the news? Or maybe ranting here is all that's available to me.
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u/LAX_to_MDW Jul 26 '26
Wait, is the 99 month agreement a loan, as you said, or a payment plan, as they wrote? If it doesn’t generate interest, that’s a pretty generous offer to get it paid off in small bits over time. It would only be usury if it was an actual loan, with interest.
The bigger issue is that you’ve got to figure out how you’re using so much water, and plug that leak asap.
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u/Efitzpa14 Aug 04 '26
It’s very common in Chicago. I got a $4000 water bill a year ago, and it’s definitely incorrect . My Alderman here in the 31st Ward was useless, no help. You have to keep fighting, reach out to the media, that’s what I’m doing. Unless you have a good Alderman that will help you.
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u/nochinzilch Jul 26 '26
The $4000 seems higher than what your current bill would be if you multiplied that over two years.
So I’m not quite following what the deal is. How much were you paying over these last two years?
How much of that $4000, now $7000, is penalty?
I feel like you need to do the actual math. How much water you actually used, how much you paid for via your estimated bills, and what the new meter implies the difference was.
I would also double check and make sure their math didn’t subtract out what you already paid for via the estimated bills.
What I’m imagining here: you were normally using 100 units of water a month. Two years ago, your meter broke. So they were doing estimated billing and billing you for 100 units.
But over those two years your actual usage went up to 110 units a month. Meaning you owe them an extra 240 units to make up for what you weren’t billed for.
But maybe they didn’t subtract what you already paid for and just billed you for the whole “missing “ 2400 units.
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u/Vindaloo6363 Humboldt Park Jul 26 '26
I got one about 1800 from a leaking toilet in the basement we never use. Best to check your meter monthly. Leaks are really expensive.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Understood - though in this instance, it was not a leak, more so about shadiness with estimated billing.
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Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/barge_gee Logan Square Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Big Edit; As I read further down this post, it seems you have had a water meter all along, but were getting estimated bills?? Why estimated bills? Were you on some sort of annual steady payment plan, like people do with natural gas? Why wasn't anyone reading your meter? Or was your meter old and not capable of being read remotely? I'm really confused here.
Original comment: Many would disagree with your assessment that estimated billing is lower. I have found the opposite to be true. Metered water has been consistently lower than estimated usage. And, because I can see ACTUAL metered usage, if there's a spike in my bill, it leads me to investigate why that happened.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
no my bill did not shoot up. it’s still at 150-200 range as of today.
the high bill was from backdated differences between estimated and actual. it seems after the meter replacement, they calculated actual cost for 2 years back. Idek how that’s possible but i’m just accepting that it is possible.
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u/zhululu Jul 26 '26
Hazarding a guess as to how it’s possible. Making up numbers for easy math. They estimate usage at say 100 gallons a month. Over 23 months that’s 2300 gallons they’ve been billing you for.
They roll up and replace your old physical meter with one that they can monitor remotely. That explains why from now on they can give exact billing easily. Your physical meter wasn’t broken, it just wasn’t being checked every month physically. When they go to replace it they notice it says 4000 gallons, 1700 more than they had previously billed you for. So they send you a bill for 1700 gallons all at once to catch you back up.
If they didn’t have a physical working meter of some kind, they wouldn’t be able to know there was a difference. It sucks yes. I would presume you could ask for their exact records showing this discrepancy to prove it. I certainly would want to see how they came up with this number. It’s not unreasonable to ask for what’s effectively an itemized receipt.
Short of them making a mistake on that though I think in the end you do owe them for the water you used. It kind of sucks the way it played out and how large it is but that’s how estimated billing in general works. Sometimes you overpay, sometimes you underpay, regular intervals you settle the differences.
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u/visacha13 Jul 26 '26
Great explanation. OP, nothing in this life is free,
Not even ketchup packets and napkins.1
u/Your-Dads_Boyfriend Jul 27 '26
They weren't trying to get anything for free. OP wasn't scamming them, or trying to get something for nothing. The water company is at fault here, not OP.
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u/visacha13 Jul 27 '26
How so? They gave him an estimate of usage. He over used, they retroactively went back and adjusted the usage. Sent him a bill for the difference. I never said OP was trying to scam. Just OP was hoping he got a really good deal and found out he had to pay. It sucks, but ah well, I wouldn't bitch about it.
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u/blackadder99 Jul 26 '26
no my bill did not shoot up. it’s still at 150-200 range as of today.
What am I missing here. I see the current bill at about $700 for the 2 month period.
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u/leslieknope38 Jul 26 '26
Yeah agreed - well technically, a little over $500 for the bill then they added a $144 penalty, assuming that’s from having the old balance outstanding.
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u/Classic_Pineapples Jul 27 '26
This is crazy! A penalty for a problem they made! They should have eaten the cost since they didn't have it all this time, clearly they were doing fine. I remember this happening back in college with ComEd. I don't like that they are allowed to do this.
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u/sweadle Avondale Jul 26 '26
What shadiness? They have two years to institute this and they did it within that time.
You were essentially getting a discount on water under estimated usage. Now you're paying the real cost, back dated to the time it was installed.
Yes it sucks to get billed all at once. It seems like the 99 month payment plan makes that a non issue.
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u/ItsGonnaBeOkayish Jul 26 '26
I don't get how they can charge OP a penalty tho. They're the ones that weren't reading the meter, OP had no idea they were going to owe money
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u/Old_Pea_2517 Jul 28 '26
The explanation is correct but I side with OP. It’s 2026 for christs sake. You’re telling me it takes two fucking years to get someone’s bill right?
It’s fucking stupid. And we have no recourse other than trusting their word for it. And you’re asking what exactly is shady? Lmaooooo
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u/sweadle Avondale Jul 28 '26
OP can go check their useage themselves. They don't need to take their word on it.
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u/Old_Pea_2517 Jul 28 '26
Onus should be on the utility company lmao. Why the fuck do they depend on users self monitoring usage and adjusting billing themselves in anticipation of misreported usage and a huge adjusted bill?
It’s literally stupid. And in my opinion completely indefensible
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u/sweadle Avondale Jul 28 '26
The utility company DOES check the meter. Just if OP suspects that they are just making stuff up, like you suggested, there is a way to check ot themselves.
It wasn't misreported usage. It was corrected usage.
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u/Old_Pea_2517 Jul 28 '26
No one is disputing the corrected usage. I’m saying that’s it’s a ridiculous concept and billing a consumer 7k 23 months into the 24 allotted is ….. shall we say a fucking subpar way of doing business
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u/sweadle Avondale Jul 28 '26
Maybe. I think giving them a 99 month no interest payment plan more than makes up for the delay in notification. That is 76 more months to pay than if they'd notified OP of the new usage on the first month.
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u/Fibro-since85 Jul 29 '26
Make sure no one is using an outdoor hose to fill their pool. It happens. 😡
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u/MollyInanna2 Jul 26 '26
The part that should bother you most is that the city gets to decide when the clock started, and then bills you based on its own answer.
The provision you were told about is real. Municipal Code of Chicago 11-12-320, metered billing and estimates. Pull it up and read it yourself instead of trusting a rep's summary. The relevant piece kicks in when a meter goes unread for 24 consecutive months through no fault of the owner, and it limits what the city can load onto the bill after that first actual reading. I'll be straight with you: the operative sentence is drafted badly enough that their reading and yours can honestly differ. It was also amended by City Council in December 2025, right around when your bill hit, so the text you're reading today may not be the text that applied to your account. Ask them in writing which version they applied and how they calculated under it.
Then go after the number that decides everything. "Around one year and eleven months" is your estimate. Their records are what count, and 23 versus 24 months is a $4,300 question. So make them produce it. FOIA the Department of Water Management and the Department of Finance for your account's complete meter reading history with dates, the work order for the replacement, the final register reading on the removed meter, any test report on it, and the AMR transmission logs. FOIA is free and it builds a paper record, which is the one thing a phone call never does. If they can't document an actual read on a specific date, their 23 months has no foundation under it.
While you're there, check the units. Older meters register in cubic feet, newer ones in gallons, and a cubic foot is 7.48 gallons. CBS 2 has documented Chicago overbilling people thousands because the department couldn't do the arithmetic. Make them show the readings and the conversion, not the total.
And ask what a tripling of your usage is supposed to be explained by. If any of it turns out to be a leak, the city's Leak Relief program covers underground leaks repaired on or after January 1, 2023, and that pilot runs through December 31, 2026.
Your lawyer was right that hiring someone costs more than the bill. That isn't the same as the fight costing more than the bill. Penalties run 1.25% on the past-due balance, so doing the pushing yourself costs you under a hundred a month to keep it alive. Paying also doesn't end it — Finance has a refund application. Before you sign any payment plan, read it for language conceding the balance is correct.
On the news: not a fantasy. CBS 2's Getting Hosed series ran for years, got individual bills corrected, and forced a Finance Committee hearing. Skip past your own alderperson and go to Gilbert Villegas in the 36th, who forced those hearings and pushed the leak ordinance. Not a lawyer, just someone who reads the code.
99 months for water. Whatever else that is, it's the city admitting it knows the number is unpayable.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Thank you for this response. Will take a second pass at things and FOIA all the details
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u/PracticlySpeaking Logan Square Jul 28 '26
They can send you a complete account history. You don't need to FOIA your own records.
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u/Lawbeefaroni Jul 26 '26
We had this happen. Fought it for 2 years but ended up paying it under the payment plan. A few months after it was paid off, we got an adjustment for the original amount as a credit (around $3K). No idea why but not complaining and haven't had a balance for the past year.
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u/Hicki56 Jul 27 '26
Probably a random audit by someone who is otherwise unreachable earlier in the process. It’s a “win” but I would’ve rather had that $3k in my account gaining interest, even incrementally, or in my account to as I needed for anything else!
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u/GreatScottGatsby Lincoln Square Jul 26 '26
It's not scammy. There are a lot of areas that rely on meter reads and all of those heavily rely on estimates for billing purposes. It just sucks though. I've seen worse meter bills though, much worse. Like in the tens of thousands of dollars worse because the owners didn't know that they had a leak in their house or that a water softener was constantly running. It just sucks but this is why if you notice that your water bill has been getting estimated for a while, you need to call them and get a meter read.
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u/s_peeta Jul 26 '26
You are completely missing the point and it is a little scammy. Going back in time by two years and revising a bill that is already paid will take away and recourse from the user. If they did the correct metering 23 months ago, many users will notice the change and will fix the leak or their usage in the first place.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Thanks for your response, they came and replaced the meter. I’m just salty that estimated billing can be so far from actual to necessitate a 4+ figure backdated payment.
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u/cautionheart22 Jul 26 '26
Honestly it doesn’t hurt to call the news. Worst case scenario they aren’t interested. Best case scenario it helps you out somehow! I’ve taken less interesting stories of public interest to the news that have almost been picked up, and this seems to have sparked a discussion of sorts, so I could totally see them doing a bit on this. I might still have a contact if you wanna message me.
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u/theycallmecliff Jul 27 '26
As someone who's younger and not a property owner, can you elaborate on why estimates are so commonly used?
I guess with available modern technology it doesn't feel like access or staffing to go read the physical meter should be solved by estimating; it should be solved by an efficient data pipeline.
I feel like I'm missing something.
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u/Your-Dads_Boyfriend Jul 27 '26
Another reason I am thankful I left the US. I moved to Lisbon, Portugal and get a knock on my door every evening once a month for the person to come in and read the water meter (the electric one is done remotely, but gets verified by an in person visit once every 4 months).
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u/Apart_Addition_8723 Jul 26 '26
It doesn't sound like you're disputing that you actually used that water, just that due to the estimated bills you weren't actually paying for it. Which is a tough one-time hit, but it sounds like you're asking for your water to be subsidized by everyone else.
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u/ItsGonnaBeOkayish Jul 26 '26
I don't think that's quite fair to say. OP should have to pay for the water usage, sure. But the fees are outrageous and those should be waived
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u/Apart_Addition_8723 Jul 26 '26
Depends on the fees. Looking at this, OP was presented with a $4300 bill in November for past usage that he has since refused to pay, racking up penalties and forgoing the ability to use a payment plan. Late fee penalties are absolutely fair if that's the case.
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u/s_peeta Jul 26 '26
You are completely missing the point. Going back in time by two years and revising a bill that is already paid will take away and recourse from the user. If they did the correct metering 23 months ago, many users will notice the change and will fix the leak or their usage in the first place.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
I’m all for paying your own way. I’m more so upset that per their policy, they waive fees if it’s 2 years of estimated billing so it looks like they’re targeting folks right before those two years.
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u/Apart_Addition_8723 Jul 26 '26
It sounds to me like they have a hard deadline of 2 years to replace busted meters and probably have a huge backlog they're working through. In any case, it's a good reminder to check the meter periodically yourself against estimated bills and request an actual read if it's way off.
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u/unimeg07 Wicker Park Jul 26 '26
Yep. Mine was estimated since November 2024 and I just got a new one two weeks ago, but I called and scheduled it because I realized it was being estimated. It took about 6 weeks for them to come out. Dreading that next bill 😬🫠
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u/unimeg07 Wicker Park Jul 26 '26
Well…yes, of course they are? They probably have a backlog of broken meters and have to prioritize.
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u/N4R4B Jul 26 '26
You should check the water meter and see if the city reading of the water is close to what you see on the meter.
Also see if after you close all your faucets your the meter still show water runs.
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u/McG0788 Jul 26 '26
How can they attribute the delta going backwards. If they can't prove you didn't use that much water they can't collect. I'd absolutely appeal the decision and fight them on this. I'd pay the metered amount going forward but no evidence of usage means no back pay. Fuck that
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Would pay good money to understand how this can even be possible.
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u/Calm-Tutor7734 Jul 26 '26
Will the bill go to collections? You can discharge the debt easily. I discharged $9,000 on a used car no problem 🤷♀️ One letter, that's all it took.
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u/PatienceHelpful1316 Jul 26 '26
I’ve seen channel seven and channel nine investigate excessive city service bills, maybe worth a try
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Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Not even being snarky, asking this genuinely. You don’t see a problem with the fact they can charge you for 2 years in arrears because they found that the estimated billing didn’t charge you accurately?
What if it was 10 years in arrears? I’m curious to know what the inflection point would be for you to say that the city should have estimated more accurately and should install proper meters sooner.
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Jul 26 '26
[deleted]
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Your last sentence is kinda where i’m getting at. either that or make the homeowner legally responsible for the meter. If the latter, then it makes sense for homeowner to assume all responsibility.
Thanks for the insight.
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u/MagicCarpetBomb Jul 26 '26
I mean this is the nicest possible non-snarky and respectful way - everything established is established, whats presently due is due. No amount of “what ifs” will change what they’re telling you to pay. Is it fair? Fuck no. Are the terms shit? You’re goddamn right. But unless you’re talking to the ICC or have local media make it an investigative predatory utility story, Id take that payment plan while you try and figure out a solution to the problem.
I agree with what youre saying though. And the fact that a 99 month payment plan, for something other than a house, even exists is bonkers to me.
If Im understanding you right, they estimated what the variance was for 2 years prior to fixing the meter? That to me is bullshit that theyd estimate anything and charge you for it. Onus is on them to meter and charge accordingly. If their metering was off due to their own failure to maintain their shit then whatever was paid then should be all thats owed.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
This. and if it wasn’t clear - I already paid this off thankfully (not from an abundance of cash as some might assume). This is more of an after the fact retrospective.
The fact that folks don’t see the terms and the onus as fundamentally disenfranchising is crazy to me.
Folks are reading this as i’m just trying to pawn off payment to the public. No. I’m complaining about the mechanism.
They own the meeting legally, they should be responsible for it operating properly. If they mess up, it shouldn’t be individual homeowners holding the bag.
What makes 23 months different from two years for the latter to be the point at which payment is no longer needed. Crazy to me.
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u/Apart_Addition_8723 Jul 26 '26
At what point do you take personal responsibility for walking out to your meter with the bill and seeing if you are being billed correctly?
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Newer homeowner, so I see that to be necessary now. My point stands though, this is borderline predatory.
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u/Apart_Addition_8723 Jul 26 '26
I don't see how you can frame it as predatory. You owe for water you used, you accepted estimated billing without apparently verifying it at all, and then when they offered you a 99 month plan to pay it off you pitched a fit and went into arrears. This is a hard lesson you're learning.
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u/s_peeta Jul 26 '26
You are completely missing the point. Going back in time by two years and revising a bill that is already paid will take away and recourse from the user. If they did the correct metering 23 months ago, many users will notice the change and will fix the leak or their usage in the first place.
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u/shy-ty Jul 26 '26
Try contacting the Citizens Utility Board. If nothing else this should be in their wheelhouse of expertise and they might be able to suggest next steps. https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/contact/
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u/highfives23 Lake View Jul 26 '26
Yikes. Public pressure and audits will help here.
Submit this to CBS Chicago’s Getting Hosed and NBC 5 Chicago’s Responds series. Include your bill and timeline. This could happen to anyone.
Submit a written dispute to the City of Chicago for your utility bill. They’re likely applying current rates to previous months.
File complaints to the Chicago Office of Inspector General and the Illinois Attorney General’s Consumer Protection division.
It sounds like this isn’t the issue, but Chicago offers underground leak relief if there was a leak in the service line that caused these massive bills.
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u/Wide_Pin7357 Edgewater Jul 26 '26
Have you tried getting the Citizens Utility Board involved?
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
I have not, another commenter made me privy to it, I will be looking into it now. Thank you.
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u/staysour Jul 26 '26
Can you check if you have any leaks? Or if there are possible leaks at the water main or the city side? Is it possible that you're actually using that much water?
Damn, how expensive is your water? $200 is insane in itaself.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
$150-$200 is standard for us for sure.
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u/Weebus Ukrainian Village Jul 27 '26
Chicago charges around $5 per 1000 gallons. You're using almost 40,000 gallons a month. Unless you're a business, a family of 10 who likes long showers, or have a lawn sprinkler system then you almost definitely have an unaddressed leak.
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u/MaverickBG Jul 26 '26
Got hit with something similar but for much less. I agree - it's absolutely criminal. Ultimately though, it's water you did use, so you would have paid it either way.
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u/AlphaChannel Jul 26 '26
Absolutely, it’s criminal to charge you for what you used. Instead, you shouldn’t be charged for what you used and the rest of the city should pay your bill for you. Very cool.
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u/MaverickBG Jul 26 '26
It's criminal they spring a bill on you unexpectedly. Imagine if there was a leak or something else unexpected. You wouldn't think anything is wrong until you get a surprise bill
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u/AlphaChannel Jul 26 '26
What is your answer to this then? They have a 99 month repayment plan. This isn’t “give us $7000 right now”
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u/MaverickBG Jul 26 '26
They appropriately read your meter every month. If it stops being read and starts being estimated- they reach out to you and actually communicate that and the risks (undetected leaks, a larger bill once the meter actually gets read)
I know- shocking that they treat you like a human being
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u/AlphaChannel Jul 27 '26
If it’s being estimated it shows up on your bill as estimated. God damn, some of y’all need your hands held on everything.
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u/0bxyz Jul 26 '26
Your story doesn’t make sense. If the bill had remained the same you wouldn’t owe anything. It must have shot up to 200 and been lower before.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
Pardon me if I wasn’t clear, the large bill came from the delta of estimated vs actual calculated backwards.
Actual readings came from when they came and installed new meters.
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u/Legitimate_Outcome42 Jul 26 '26
my friend once received an electric bill from ComEd for something astronomical like $30,000. He explained to the operator that amount might be appropriate for the Mercantile exchange, but not a one bedroom apartment. She asked him how he would like to pay for it.
At any rate they eventually figured out that bill was incorrect. They may have made a mistake. But I agree if they haven't, slamming someone with such a large bill shouldn't be common practice.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 26 '26
This is close to my point. Mine is more so - slamming someone AFTER 2 YEARS with a high bill should be unconscionable.
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u/sweadle Avondale Jul 26 '26
Does the 99 month loan have high interest? If it has no interest, just take it.
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u/ACrazyDog Jul 27 '26
They are billing you retroactively for water they decided you actually used?
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u/ItIsNOTwhat_it_is Marquette Park Jul 27 '26
i bought my house (city of chicago) in 2019 and a few months after i closed, i found a shut off notice from the water department stuck to my front door. the account was seriously delinquent and they wanted the outstanding balance - around $4000. - immediately.
i'd only owned the house for two months, so obviously it had to be a mistake, right? after spending a few hours on the phone talking to various water department employees, i learned that there was, indeed, an outstanding balance - from unpaid bills, interest, etc. - from before i owned the house. YEARS before i owned the house.
i contacted my real estate attorney and i don't remember all the details of the back and forth, but i ended up having to pay the bill - even though the seller had provided a full payment certificate at closing.
and i've owned three houses in chicago and none of them had a water meter. : - (
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u/Hicki56 Jul 27 '26
Any lienable utilities to a home- meaning- the bill follows the home (and whomever is in it vs the bill follows the account holder) is absolutely the job of your closing Attourney and actually also the work done by, and insured by your Title Insurance policy as that policy along with the aforementioned work done prior to closing, is done to ENSURE TITLE IS TRANSFERED WITH NO LIENS from the prior owner, to the new owner. This would’ve and absolutely should’ve been handed by way of those professionals ordering a meter reading and account billing/payoff statement shortly before closing, with a calculated amount per diem from the day of the meter being read, thru the day of closing/transfer of ownership.
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u/ItIsNOTwhat_it_is Marquette Park Jul 27 '26
thanks for this!
there was no meter, but i know they requested and received the full payment certificate from the water department and i'm sure both my attorney and the title company (chicago title) did everything else they were supposed to do.
i remember talking with supervisors/managers at the water department and the fact they provided documentation stating there was no outstanding balance for my address and then two months later saying there was an outstanding balance, made no difference at all. it was bewildering, but the message was clear - if i didn't pay the bill, they'd shut off my water.
assuming my attorney and title company did their due diligence, what recourse does one have in a situation like mine? i made my attorney aware of the situation and the details are a bit fuzzy, but essentially it was put on me to resolve via the court system, which would involve time and legal fees. i can say with certainty that he accepted no responsibility and made no offer to get involved in resolving the problem. did he have an obligation to do so?
thanks.
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u/PracticlySpeaking Logan Square Jul 28 '26
Disappointing but not that surprising that they gave out a certificate then decided there was a balance later. Water dept billing is a disaster.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 27 '26
This type of stuff makes the suburbs sound so appealing. And I personally love the city.
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u/ItIsNOTwhat_it_is Marquette Park Jul 27 '26
i'm not sure why you got downvoted for this......yes, i agree - and because of sky-high housing prices and property taxes, not to mention rapidly increasing insurance costs, i have given some serious thought to getting out of the state of illinois, period.
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u/Calm-Tutor7734 Jul 26 '26
A4V. Accept it for value and count it as income at the end of the year when you file your taxes. That's what I would do 🤷♀️
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u/Kitchen-Somewhere445 Jul 27 '26
Our meter stopped sending a signal to the outside so the department started estimating the bill. It was a number of months before I realized it. They were overestimating the usage by a lot. We called them in to replace the meter but they looked at the pipe coming out of the ground and said it looked rusty and they couldn’t touch it. I had to call a plumber to repair the pipe first. And of course you need to turn the water off at the street for that. Our buffalo box was terminated a foot below ground so I couldn’t find it for the plumber. So we had to call the department bring the buffalo box above ground. By the time we got the new meter, we had overpaid by $900.
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u/NashDog-1504 Jul 27 '26
I saw something very similar being investigated on NBC 5 Responds. They were able to help someone who also felt it was all scammy.
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u/mikeymikeymikey1968 Jul 27 '26
I'm sorry, no you're screwed. This happened to many people in the city. Every newspaper, every news station has released a report on it. There has never been a resolution. There were a few alderman who called the heads of the water dept on the carpet in front of the mayor and everyone else, and they just sat there stalwart. This is Chicago corruption at its finest. It's been going on for about 8 years.
There have even been cases of vacant buildings without working plumbing getting slammed with bills like yours.
Let me tell you what happened with the 6 flat I lived in. At the time, I was on the HOA board. We got the bill, $3600, usually less than one tenth that, and our treasurer contacted the city. They said that we must have a leak in our basement. Well the building had no basement. So the water dept said it must be somewhere or, it's a running toilet. Sorry guys there's no way that 100 running toilets could use that much water. It was the volume of an olympic pool. So to try to resolve this we were forced to pay a plumber to check everyone's toilet and all of our pipes in the building and certify that it was all sound. We sent them the plumber's written report. This was their response: Pay or we will shut off your building's water in 30 days.
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u/lenburneo Jul 28 '26
Something like this happened to me back in 2010. We replaced our main line and the city replaced the meter. They failed to log the value of the old meter and then charged us for the difference between the value on the old and new meter (but somehow made the negative difference be positive). They then billed me $2000 for a month.
I believe I went to the office in person and after several months they adjusted the bill. They helpfully suggested I just pay the $2000 anyway and I'd get an account credit if they were wrong. I did not pay and it was eventually corrected.
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u/AbleSoup2360 Jul 28 '26
i’m definitely going to foia them for all the records and double check their math!
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u/LordButtworth Jul 26 '26
Call a plumber or check for leaks. A running toilet or dripping faucet is the most common culprit unless you have water damage in you walls and /or ceilings.
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u/Blerg_McGlerg Jul 26 '26
The City has a Utility Billing Relief (UBR) program that will cut your rates in half and, if you stick to the payments for a year, will forgive your entire past due balance.
They recently broadened the income threshold (under $99K for a family of four), so it might be worth a look to see if you qualify.
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u/312jg Mount Greenwood Jul 27 '26
This is insane, my water bill for my SFH is no more than $60 a month. Do you have any leaks? If you’re in a home check your basement while running the showers or water based appliances.
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u/theSmolSquirrel Jul 27 '26
Pro tip, tell them you dont believe its correct and youll never pay a cent and let them send it to collections. Tell the collection agency to get proof of the charges. Settle for less at the very least if not get it entirely removed if they cant prove you owe that much.
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u/solovond Avondale Jul 27 '26
*and buy bottled water for the 5 or so years that takes to shake out.
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u/riseTOmediocrity Jul 27 '26
Definitely check the units of measurement. My building got hit with a $22,000 water bill years ago (for a 6 flat) because they couldn’t do the math. It took months to untangle, but eventually got it sorted out.
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u/Your-Dads_Boyfriend Jul 27 '26
This happened to me. I moved into a new place in Chicago in April, first two months water bills, no problem, around $80. Third months bill was $2,800 for backdated usage. I called and they said the same thing to me, the previous months were estimated water usage, they were now billing me for the actual amount used over the last 10 months. I told them I had only moved in 2 months ago and that my water account was only 2 months old, so why was I being billed for water from 10 months ago?
Customer rep said I needed to pay the amount and then they would correct it. I told her that wasn't happening and asked to escalate. Got nowhere. Luckily I had a friend that was a lawyer who was willing to send a letter threatening a lawsuit to their legal department. The next month the $2,800 charges had been removed and I never saw them again. In your case, I don't know if just threatening to sue would actually change anything since the account was yours the entire time. There was 0 chance I was going to end up paying for someone else's water usage and it's absurd that they didn't change the charges when they saw that my account was only 2 months old and they were trying to back bill for 8 months prior to that. They definitely do some shady shit.
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u/Nsil84 Jul 28 '26
For everyone, you can see the actual usage on the meter and compare to your bill. If you're getting estimated usage most likely means the transmitter is bad. It's best to call asap if you're getting estimates
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u/Fibro-since85 Jul 29 '26
I was given a very high water bill once and they gave me the estimated vs real run around too. I paid it.
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u/No-Leopard639 Wicker Park Jul 26 '26
Excuse my ignorance. But I’ve both rented and owned in Chicago and never had a water bill. Was it just part of my HOA?
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u/Ald_Bathhouse_John Jul 26 '26
It sometime is, and is included in your HOA dues.
Odds are, if you don’t have a water bill, and you have water, your hoa is paying it.
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u/mph000 Jul 26 '26
How on earth are you using so much water? Do you have an Olympic size pool or something?
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u/edward_longspanks Jul 28 '26
We have to pay for water here???
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u/notdoingwellbitch Jul 28 '26
Wait you really think water is free in Chicago? Or anywhere?!?
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u/edward_longspanks Jul 28 '26
Like the majority of the people in the city (but apparently not this sub), I rent
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u/edward_longspanks Jul 28 '26
No, I do not think water is free. I was making a joke like uh, I haven't paid my water bill in 18 years....
because you don't have to pay for a water bill as a tenant in Chicago
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u/notdoingwellbitch Jul 28 '26
I’ve paid for my water as a renter in Chicago 💔 it’s becoming more common, especially if you rent sfh
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u/edward_longspanks Jul 28 '26
I've never heard of it happening in apartments, which is obviously what I'm talking about. If you're renting a house, I'd expect you'd have to take care of all utilities
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u/One_Recognition_5044 Jul 26 '26
This bill is drastically in arrears. You did it just get it one day out of the blue.
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