Water usage down, bill is up




Like most people, I have been watching my water consumption. So, after cutting back in several ways, I was very upset when I received my May water bill from Las Virgenes Water District and my bill had gone up.

I went into the LVMWD office to question it and was basically brushed off. So I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I started reading my water meter. It’s so easy. You just lift the lid on the meter, which is located in your sidewalk, and lift the cover of the actual meter to read the dial.

The numbers are large and easy to read. Mine said 1003 at the beginning of my next billing period and 1016 on last day of the billing period. Great, only 13 units used. I took a picture of the ending reading.

Then I received my July bill. The starting number was 1003 and the ending number was 1046 or 43 units of water. How could this be? This was the highest bill I’ve ever had. How could my monitoring yield 13 units and LVMWD says it’s 43 units? And almost all of these erroneous units were in the tier 2 category at the higher rate.

Fortunately, I had the picture of the correct reading to prove the date so they revised my bill, deducting over $80.

Naturally, my next question is how many other months have I been overcharged, so I went back to LVMWD and was told that, unfortunately, there is no way to know since I haven’t been reading my meter until now. No proof.

You may or may not know that your sanitation charges are based upon your average water consumption during the winter period. I am being charged the maximum, $110, whereas my neighbor is only charged $75. Of course if I’ve been overbilled consistently, they are charging me the maximum but should I really have been charged the higher rate?

So the purpose of this letter is to tell you not to trust the meter man. Protect yourself and check your own meter.

Now I’m off to check my electric meter.

Karen Tiffany
Calabasas



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