The dollar figure attached to forgiving abnormally high water bills is being chalked up as a cost of doing business for the City of Calgary’s water utility.
The sticker shock attached to leaky toilets, burst pipes and other plumbing problems can add up fast. Last year, media reports of some Calgarians being hit with significant water bill increases due to unforeseen or hidden leaks caught the attention of elected officials, who in turn pushed administration to figure out a way to ease the pinch on the pocketbook.
The new bill-adjustment protocol has cost the city roughly $950,000 since it was put in place last fall.
READ MORE: Alberta single mom handed $2,700 water bill: ‘It’s impossible’
While there was speculation the cost of offsetting the unusually high bills could be handled through a line-item charge of about 30 to 40 cents per month, Calgary’s director of water resources said Monday that the cost — an estimated $1.5 million per year going forward — will be absorbed by the price of water.
“You will not be able to say a certain amount of the rate is because of this particular line item in our operating budget,” Rob Spackman told reporters. “There’s lots of different variables that go into setting rates.”
When customers file a complaint about an abnormally high water bill, they are asked to go through a checklist of a number of factors which could be leading to the high consumption. An inspection will also take place to try and identify the cause of the increased water usage. The goal is to have the problem identified so it can be fixed, returning the customer’s usage to normal in the process.
According to statistics from Enmax, leaky toilets account for 37 per cent of the cases of high water consumption. Irrigation is the second-most common cause at 13 per cent. In 29 per cent of the cases, the cause of the water issues is undetermined.
READ MORE: Water restored to Calgary residents after days of waiting
“Every city will be similar in having customers having leaks in their home and having unintentional water usage because of those leaks,” Spackman said.
“Where we’ve landed, in terms of our approach and how we work with our customers, is very much in line [with] what we see from other municipalities and other water utilities from across North America.”
In addition to eating the cost of the leaked water, Calgary’s city council has directed administration to look at creating an appeal mechanism in the event customers are unhappy with any decisions made by the water utility in their case. A study will also look into whether an assistance program — similar to the fair access program for transit — can be developed for water.
The water utility’s rate has yet to be set for the 2019-2022 business plan.
Comments