Water usage clarifications
I've been having some communication with some local officials regarding getting some clarification over reading water meters, billing cycles, etc., following this post, and I've got some good and logical explanations from them.
Regarding using usage trends, Athens-Clarke County officials work to read meters by hand in almost all cases. In those rare instances when they are unable to (say because of a locked gate), the usage could be estimated based on previous trends, but this would be clearly noted on the individual's bill.
The other thing which we discussed, which is quite interesting, is that the number of days in a billing cycle can vary. Typically they range from 28 to 32 days, meaning it's never a set number of days used to determine usage. One individual I exchanged emails with told me that last year he was billed based on a 25-day reading, however the same time period this year was based on a 33-day reading. As a result, his usage appeared to be up though, in actuality, it had probably gone down.
This also could explain why my bill was up and why the bills of Mayor Heidi Davison and District Three Commissioner George Maxwell were marginally higher than the previous year.
Regarding using usage trends, Athens-Clarke County officials work to read meters by hand in almost all cases. In those rare instances when they are unable to (say because of a locked gate), the usage could be estimated based on previous trends, but this would be clearly noted on the individual's bill.
The other thing which we discussed, which is quite interesting, is that the number of days in a billing cycle can vary. Typically they range from 28 to 32 days, meaning it's never a set number of days used to determine usage. One individual I exchanged emails with told me that last year he was billed based on a 25-day reading, however the same time period this year was based on a 33-day reading. As a result, his usage appeared to be up though, in actuality, it had probably gone down.
This also could explain why my bill was up and why the bills of Mayor Heidi Davison and District Three Commissioner George Maxwell were marginally higher than the previous year.
posted by Jmac at 6:18 AM
3 Comments:
My family of four uses the same amount as Heidi and Al.
And since when did "ordering low flow toilets" qualify as "conservation"?
I wish we had elected officials who were proactive rather than reactive.
George Maxwell spent 16 days in the hospital in October 2006 and his wife stayed at his side almost around the clock. The use of the Oct. 2006/07 data for comparison was greatly skewed for George and Betty because of this.
Unfortunately, they were out of town when the ABH story was being created and published so they could not be reached for comment or clarification. Betty was rather upset when she got back and began to catch up on reading the newspapers that came while they were gone.
I can personally attest, for several months (minimum) my bill was not based on an actual meter reading. I know this because the gauge was buried under two inches of hard-pack red clay. Once I discovered this, I checked each month to see if it had been cleared to read the meter. Not once.
Several calls to the w.b.o yielded no answers. Finally, they recently installed a completely new meter.
Post a Comment
<< Home