I love that the key point of outrage is that they replied with AN EMAIL.
Jebus. $500 water bill?!
I'm assuming, given that the water company's reaction included a threat for immediate disconnection, that this is not for the first month of service. It's just the first time they "paid".
I once had a $1500 one - Miami (at least then) billed quarterly and when I utterly panicked and hired a plumber they found the cracked main line from the street had been pouring under my parking slab for months.
Didn’t think to, I dunno, call me to ask if I had started a “will fill your Olympic pool for free” business but were happy to knock off 10% when I showed them the thousands of repair bills to fix it.
Man, that's hella unfortunate.
I came back from vacation in January this year to find my meter box full of water. The half century old PVC line supplying the house from the meter finally gave in. Needless to say the city couldn't do anything about it since it was on my side of the meter. Five grand later, and now I've got a new PEX line. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen again in my lifetime and it'll be the next guy's problem in ~40-60 years.
The city was aware of the leak, and even though I never sent them proof that the leak was fixed they gave me credits for December and January that made it so I didn't have a water bill in March and April came in at around 30 bucks. Doesn't really offset the cost of repair that much, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
Jesus, and last month, my wife smelled gas by the back porch. I leaned over to the pipe running from the ground into the house and smelled it. Then I saw where the years of water pooling in the flower bed rusted the cast iron line through. Called the gas company, but they were happy to move the meter from the back side of the property up the the back porch for free. So hopefully THAT'S good for another several decades too.
This after having to have two very big and very dead oaks cut down over the last couple years.
Still beats having a landlord by about a thousand miles.
My neighbor brags about his $400 water bill to keep his monoculture lawn green.
He always asks me what my secret is, but doesn't seem to believe that I've done literally nothing to my yard, so everything growing in it is adapted to our ecosystem.
Well, not literally nothing. I strategically neglect it in the spring so the shit that survived the last summer and winter can put down deep roots.
I bet if we could see the itemized list of charges it would include a previous balance and delinquency fees. Either that or he's doing some serious hydroponics.
I'd say "enjoy no longer showering" but we all know they don't anyway.
Damnit that one is close. Literally drove past there on Friday. Less than 30 miles away.
Most of the towns irrigation water is from the canals. Mine on the same system (downstream) cost $500 for 6 months of water. It's non-treated surface water.
They likely haven't paid the regular water bill for months to get it that high.
Wow, it's almost like a business can choose which methods of payment they accept. Outrageous.
