Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce3055
I think hiring an engineer to prove water meters can spike without water running through the meter and then return to normal for months or years would be more profitable than hiring a lawyer. Folks all over the country with high water bills would appreciate your efforts
And I don’t think the village water company would dispute your findings either with empirical facts.
Good luck
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It would not be more profitable for me (or any one individual) and it would be much more difficult to do.
That there is an issue is clear to anyone who hasn't dug in their heels. A google search can find a few cases around the country where customers have sued water departments about malfunctioning meters. In one case a meter was counting the water that was flowing through it while it was sitting in a box on a shelf. In another case, under certain conditions the water in the meter was "stuttering" due to a backflow valve on one side and fluctuating pressure on another side - the meter kept counting the same water over and over as the water bounced back and forth. Stuff happens though very, very infrequently.
Hiring a lawyer means convincing a judge or jury that something is happening even though there is no analysis of exactly how it is happening. While the utility might claim that the meter absolutely only counts when water is flowing through it the judge or jury might look at a list of questionable readings and wonder if "absolutely" was accurate.
If I remember correctly (I probably don't) the POA collected concerns from about 70 people over the past couple of years. With over 100,000 meters in place and some running for over ten years, 70 cases in the past couple of years is tiny percentage. Finding the right set of conditions where a glitch can occur in 70 readings out of 6,000,000 readings (five years) will be very difficult. Paying an engineer to keep trying until he finds the conditions could be very expensive.
In any case, it is no longer my issue. I had my 25,000 gal reading three years ago. I *did* have a leak that *could* have used that much water so I didn't have any hope of disputing the usage. If it happens to me again then I will have to consider how to deal with it.
Again, pushing the District to provide the hourly readings over the billing period could help if they show an impossible reading during any particular hour. If the meter truly glitched then that is what I would expect to see.
Also, the new(ish) forgiveness policy is a step in the right direction. They really need to fix the Tier 1 reimbursement portion but at least they have something in place.