EFFINGHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – An Effingham County family is without water after receiving several water bills totaling over $3,000.
A sum they say they don’t understand why they’re being asked to pay.
Bottles of water…
“To brush our teeth and wash hands and everything else right this moment.”
And gallons of it…
“We’ve got our gallons of water here, again, because we’re having to fill up the tank to flush the toilet so we can use the bathroom.”
Laying around Katherine Gowers home to take care of basic needs while her water is shut off.
“Picking up your kid and having to take her to somebody else’s house to take a shower, is hard.”
This all started, Gowers said, when she and her husband received their water bill for November totaling over $1,000.
Another bill for the same amount came through in December and then another in January.
Gowers says the only plumbing issue her family has had recently – a running toilet. But that problem, she says, was fixed by December.
“Even after that, we still had a bill over a thousand dollars which is why we called a plumber and leak detection to come out and take a look at our home.”
Leak detection, Gowers says, found no problems.
They said it wasn’t likely that the running toilet could run up a water bill that high.. but Gowers says, Effingham County told her it is possible.
The leak detection service also told Gowers that the problem was likely with her water meter. Gowers set up a payment plan with the County while she waits to find out what the problem is.
She admits she has missed payments on the plan saying she shouldn’t have to pay a bill that high.
“I really don’t know anybody who just has a thousand dollars to spend. And this is while we’ve been paying for leak detection and plumbers to come out and determine that it’s not our fault. So my husband and I, that’s why we haven’t kept up with the payment plan or anything like that. Because we’ve been told that’s not our issue.”
Effingham County added that when customers go on a payment plan, they try to structure the plan so it’s paid off in a few months or less. That’s because customer accounts are attached to a person, not a property.
So if they move without paying a bill, that’s money the county isn’t getting back, which is a problem because they buy water from the City of Savannah with taxpayer funds.
Effingham County said they couldn’t discuss a specific customer’s account, but did say they have a leak adjustment policy.
It reads in part:
The Account Holder is responsible for any water loss due to leaks or breakage of their lines. Effingham County may grant a leak adjustment, in its sole discretion, but the Account Holder is responsible for repairing the actual leak on their side of the meter.
The full leak adjustment policy is attached below.
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