Woman Receives $9,000 Water Bill for 1 Month
Blayne Beacham is reeling after discovering that her water bill, usually $500, had ballooned to over $9,000 in just one month. Beacham has launched an investigation into why the bill skyrocketed, though there is no conclusion as of right now.
After receiving the bill for $9,224.40, Beacham called the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management to get to the bottom of things. She worked out a payment plan in order to avoid having her service interrupted, even though her first attempt at a payment plan was denied.
"Basically they sent someone out to check my meter and said there was nothing wrong with the meter," Beacham wrote in a blog post. "On October 13, I got a notice in the mail saying that my entire balance, $384.26, was due that day or they would turn off my water."
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Beacham paid the full amount but after two months, called the water company back in order to lower her monthly payment. "We called the water department and worked out an agreement where I would pay them $120 a month until I could get a court date. That number was based on my neighbor down the street's average monthly water bill."
In order to figure out why her bill had ballooned, Beacham decided to track her own water usage and limit the amount she already used.
"I can't think of any other time I use water unless I am drinking it or rinsing my dishes," she wrote.
Even though the water department sent another person to check that Beacham's meter was running correctly, which they maintain it is, the damage has already been done. While Beacham continues to investigate the added costs, she currently owes over $9,000 in new and past charges.
The water department is also looking into the matter, and has granted Beacham more time in order to pay and examine the matter. A data logger, "which measures hour-by-hour usage that can help us determine if there are any times of the day when usage seems out of kilter," has been installed by the department but won't provide its first reading until mid-July.
