Asheville Homeowner Hires Attorney After Exorbitant Water Bill

Asheville’s Water Bill Outrage

In Asheville, North Carolina, a homeowner finds himself battling an astronomical water bill so high, it resembled a mortgage payment. Robert Ahern, shocked by the amount, hired an attorney to contest the charges.

“I was shocked. I was absolutely shocked, and I thought: ‘Wow, they just feel like they can do whatever they want with complete impunity,'” said Ahern, who was handed a bill over 18 times his usual water charges.

The Sky-High Water Bill

Ahern’s dramatic bill story began in late July, when he was slapped with over $1,100 in water charges. Following a one-time adjustment by the department, his bill was reduced but still towering at over $635.

“The highest water bill I’ve ever had was 61 bucks and now they’re charging me 635,” Ahern protested.

Crumbling Infrastructure and Distrustful Residents

When confronted, the city admitted to Ahern that their meters were not functioning appropriately, with a replacement plan for all 63,000 meters already in place to be completed by 2025.

“I said: ‘Well if they’re failing, couldn’t the reading have been wrong?’ You’re telling me it jumped 220 CCFs in 60 days?” Ahern queried.

Fighting Back

In light of the situation, Ahern decided to hire an attorney to challenge the charges. “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,” Ahern asserted.

City’s Response

Clay Chandler, public information officer with the Asheville Water Resources Department, apologized for the inconvenience.

“We definitely empathize because with confusion often comes inconvenience, and we’re certainly sympathetic to that,” Chandler stated.

Aging Meter Problem

Chandler further explained that more and more meters are failing. As the city works on replacing them, they resort to manual readings on some meters.

“Obviously, that takes a lot more time to gather readings than it does when a reader is transmitting information to us through a transmitter,” Chandler acknowledged.

Planned Upgrades and Pending Challenges

The meter replacement project has slowed down the entire billing process, leading to confusion and frustration while the department struggles to catch up, still needing to replace two-thirds of the original meters.

“We are dedicating every available resource to making sure this project goes as quickly as possible,” Chandler assured.

New Meters: A Silver Lining?

All the new meters being installed are expected to have a shelf life of 20 years, double the life of those currently being replaced.

However, Ahern has a different perspective. “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.”