Asheville Homeowner Left Scrambling After Water Bill Dramatically Rises

Asheville Homeowner Left Scrambling After Water Bill Dramatically Rises

A homeowner in Asheville is voicing his concerns after receiving a water bill that was more than 18 times his average. Robert Ahern found himself in disarray when he was slapped with a massive water bill of $1,100 late July. This was a tremendous increase from his typical $61 water bill. Despite receiving a one-time adjustment from the Water Resources Department, his water bill was still an astronomical $635.

Water Meter Malfunction in Question

The city has advised Ahern that the meters are failing and the city plans to replace the 63,000 meters by 2025. Ahern questions if a failed meter reading could have led to the unwarranted spike in his water bill.
“I said: ‘Well, if they’re failing, couldn’t the reading have been wrong? You’re telling me it jumped 220 CCFs within 60 days?” shares Ahern.

Ahern has taken the step to hire an attorney with the confidence that the Water Resources Department may have taken advantage of consumers by charging abnormally high bills. “They can’t just go around taking advantage of people. It’s not right and I’m willing to spend the money because it’s not right,” states Ahern.

Water Resources Department Responds

The Water Resources Department claims they are sympathetic to the confusion and inconvenience caused by the situation. Clay Chandler, a public information officer, shared: “We definitely apologize for any inconvenience because, with confusion often comes inconvenience, and we’re certainly sympathetic to that.” Chandler explains because more water meters are starting to die off, the city is now conducting manual readings – a process that has slowed down billings and led to misunderstandings and frustrations among consumers.

“Obviously, that takes a lot more time to gather readings than it does when a reader is sending information to us through a transmitter,” adds Chandler. The department is rushing to address the issue and is focused on replacing two-thirds of the original meters.

A Glimmer of Future Improvements

Despite the ongoing frustrations, the department assured residents that the new meters are expected to have a lifespan of 20 years – twice the span of the old ones. But Ahern has a different view on the situation. He believes that the city should have replaced the meters before their failures and stresses on the importance of a robust preventative maintenance program and regular spot checks, especially on problematic meters.

“You should have replaced the meters before they failed. You should have had a preventative maintenance program in place. You should have been doing spot checks on the meters if they were this problematic, and I think you need to pay more attention to the problem meters that you’re replacing,” says Ahern.