DETROIT – A Detroit family was told they may be charged for using 700 gallons of water a day, even though they say they’ve never used that much.
The family reached out to Local 4 for help, and the city said they won’t be billed, but the city wants to make sure people understand what options are available if they end up in a similar situation.
Detroit woman Crystal Botten doesn’t use much water a day, mostly for sink water and laundry twice a week. She’s never had issues, and she didn’t think much of it until the city called a few weeks ago and said she was using 700 gallons a day.
“He said, ‘How much do you think that’s gonna be?’ I said, ‘I was thinking, roughly, about $700 or $800. And he was like, ‘no way’ and I would have sent that bill right back to them,” Botten said, recalling a conversation with her husband about the billing issue.
For more than two decades, Botten and her family have called their Detroit house home.
“Approximately around $120, the highest, probably about $220,” Botten said.
A typical bill for them is predictable. Their water use is usually steady, month after month.
A few weeks ago, the calls started coming from the city’s Department of Water and Sewerage.
“I kept getting these voicemails on my phone and they kept saying, ‘You’re using 700 gallons of water and I was like, ‘wait a minute, this doesn’t sound right. How?’ A night,” Botten said.
After a few missed voicemails, she called the customer service line. They told her the water was leaking inside the home and in the early hours of the morning.
“A leak? I said, ‘It can’t be.’ I said, ‘Ma’am, I walked around my whole entire home, from the back to the side, to the basement - I have no water leak.’ And then she said, ‘Well, hold on.’ She comes back to the phone and said, ‘are you washing too much?’ I said, ‘I only wash twice a week,’” Botten said.
Eventually, they told her it was likely an issue with her meter.
The meter was replaced, but one big question remained: Would she be charged for hundreds of gallons of water she says her family never used?
“She says, ‘Well, I really don’t know. I couldn’t tell you that.’ I said, ‘I tell you what, I know what to do from here.’ And that’s when I contacted you,” she said.
Local 4 reached out to the city, and they said she won’t be billed, but they want to make sure people know they proactively notify customers through an automated call when unusual water usage is detected between midnight and 4 a.m.
Here’s their full statement:
“The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) proactively notifies customers through an automated call when unusual water usage is detected between midnight and 4 a.m., when household water use is typically lower. The alert does not necessarily mean a customer will receive a significantly higher bill. It is an early notification intended to help customers identify a potential leak, running toilet or other issue before it continues and leads to unnecessary water use and potentially higher costs.
DWSD prioritizes water conservation and affordability, and we want customers to have information that can help them better understand and manage their water use. Customers who receive an alert or are concerned about their usage can call DWSD Customer Service at 313-267-8000. Our Customer Service team will review their water usage and provide a detailed report showing daily or even hourly consumption, which can help identify when increased usage occurred and whether there may be an issue that needs to be addressed.”
