ARVADA, Colo. — Julie Meiresonne had a scary summer.
In early June, her neighbors found her unconscious in her home. Doctors would later learn she had a brain tumor. The tumor was benign but required surgery and a lengthy recovery away from her home in an assisted living facility. But she was able to return home in late August.
The second scariest moment of her summer came when she opened a water bill for the time she was away.
“I just looked at it and, and flipped out, this can't be real,” Meiresonne told Steve On Your Side.
The bill said between July and September, consumption at Meiresonne’s home had nearly tripled from previous summers. According to the bill, 107,000 gallons of water flowed through her home while she was away. The bill totaled $836.
Meiresonne called the city’s utility department who confirmed the number was accurate based on a recent read of her meter.
“I said, that's impossible,” she said.
Meiresonne said while she was away, her neighbor, who is a handyman, looked after her home and shut off each of the ranch’s three toilets. She said he didn’t shut off the water at the main because her automatic sprinkler system continued to water her lawn like it had every year.
To ensure that the sprinkler system wasn’t leaking, Meiresonne had it tested by her sprinkler technician who verified the system wasn’t leaking. She said she never found a leak anywhere in the home.
After that monstrous bill, Meiresonne asked the city to come out and read her meter. She said a team arrived, read the meter, confirmed the number, then replaced the meter.
Meiresonne said since that replacement, she hasn’t had a high water bill.
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“If it read 107,000 gallons of consumption, I think the meter was defective,” she said. “They disagree.”
Steve On Your Side asked Arvada’s utility department the same question. In a statement, utility spokeswoman Katie Patterson said there were no obvious malfunctions in the meter head that was removed.
“The team has done its due diligence to check our portion of the system, finding no malfunctions, and extended the suite of financial support that we supply to all customers. Unknown consumption or unidentifiable leaks can happen,” Patterson said.
And for its part, Arvada did issue two separate hardship credits cutting that $836 water bill by nearly $300. Meiresonne wants more.
She believes she should be able to pay whatever her average consumption was for previous years since a leak has never been found.
“The director of utilities called and listen to my story, and said, ‘well, there's nothing we can do,'” she said. “And she said you're just gonna have to accept that's the way it is.”
“I told them, I am not backing down, I want this resolved in a way that's fair to me and fair to the city.”
Utility advocates said arguing over a bill like this with a municipally-run utility is difficult as most departments are driven by existing policies. They said the best bet is to raise the issue with your elected official on city council or the mayor.
Meirsonne said she’s reached out to her elected leaders and the issue hasn’t gotten much attention.
Do you have a consumer problem for Steve On Your Side to investigate? Send a tip to Consumer Investigator Steve Staeger.
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