A $1000 Water Bill? Residents of Several Large Cities See Huge Spike in Water Bill

Somewhere along the line, most of us have been told about the scarcity of water. Even early in schools we are taught the basic principles that although our planet is 70% water only, 2.5% fresh water, and only 1% of the Earth’s total water content is useable for humans. Those numbers in of themselves is enough to understand that 6 billion people and growing there is just not enough to sustain its demand.

Is it possible to think fresh water would be worth its weight in gold? One day the possibility is there to have a home water bill of a $1000 per month, but not in 2011 right? Well the residents of Atlanta GA., Cleveland OH., Charlotte NC., and other cities across the United States are being sent bills in excess of $1000. CNN.com has posted a story on their website that discusses the issue and why this is happing. Below are excerpts from their story, and the full story can be seen online here http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/01/water.bills.war/index.html?hpt=C1

Residents throughout Atlanta are outraged by hundreds, even thousands of dollars in monthly spikes in their water bills, and have questioned the legitimacy of the charges for years. Now, they're demanding answers. A woman in Atlanta was not only shocked when she got her bill but immediately created concern for her that she had a major water leak that could cause major damage to the foundation of her home. Her monthly water bill was averaging $200 to $250 per month and then last summer skyrocketed to $1800 for July and $1084 for August. The problem did not stop with residents of Atlanta but bussiness too have had issues. Operators of Lenox Square Mall and Phipps Plaza, two large shopping malls, complained about water billings "nearly $300,000 over last year for this same period of time," according to another e-mail obtained by CNN.com

While similar complaints about huge water bill spikes have popped up in Cleveland, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; Tampa, Florida; and Brockton, Massachusetts; it appears that the issue has lasted the longest in Atlanta, but if you want to see how your city ranks see the CNN story to see how the top 50 US cities rank.

Most people in these areas started noticing problems with their water bills after the installation of new, automated water meters. The new metering systems began being installed about five years ago, and involved contracts for meter installations, the electronic meters and software equipment. This automated water meter-reading systems eliminates the need for city workers to manually check every meter. Instead, they retrieve the data by driving by each property, and then the water meter electronically transmits data to their car showing the amount of water used. From the beginning, there were problems reported with the use of these new meter systems. In 2007, city auditors found they were "unable to verify electronic meter readings" because of "meter read errors, equipment failures or human errors." Specifically, the audit said "about 9% of the meters could not be read due to broken or malfunctioning equipment."



There are several things that you can do if you feel this is an issue for your home or business. The first is to contact your local water authority and let them know that you suspect there is an issue with your bill. In most cases the city will install another device to track daily use of water while you dispute the charges on your bill. Not in all cases the problem is a malfunctioning meter there could be a leak also. You can install a leak detector. Here is a good resource that can assist you in how to determine and where to look to see if there is a leak present in your home or business http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Water-Leak-in-Your-House .

FreshWaterSystems.com encourages you to keep water conservation in mind, and to make sure you are checking your water bill, it’s not on auto pay, to ensure you are not being over charged and your home or business does not have a water leak.

Water Pressure Gauges

Have problems with water dripping or slowly coming out of your faucets? Fell like you have to dance around in your shower to get wet? There could be a number of potential issues that is the cause of poor water pressure in your home or office. Do you use a water filtration system such as reverse osmosis water system? As you well aware of this type of system uses air pressure to force the water out of a RO water tank. Another common situation where people have issues with water pressure is if you get your water supply from well water. If your water supply comes from a well you have several components such as a booster pump and a pressure well tank that are used to ensure water pressure. There are many other potential issues that can cause poor water pressure, but to troubleshoot the issue you need to start somewhere.

A starting point for people and professional is to determine what the actual water pressure is coming out of the faucet or other point of use. The best way to do this is using a water pressure gauge. Many of our water pressure gauges usually have stainless steel or brass threads, along with a rubber washer for a pressure fit. We offer pressure gauges for measuring water pressure that are available in economy models as well as high-precision types.