NJ Woman Fights $2,000 Water Bill

When Ada Rivera opened up her United Water bill last month, she had no idea what was in store for her.
   
"I was surprised because I've never seen my bill that high," Ada said. The total was $1,922.15.

When her kids were living at home, Ada says her typical quarterly bill was about $120. When her kids moved out of her Camden, New Jersey home, she says she figured her utility bills would go down. So about two years ago, when her bill dropped to about $40 a quarter, Ada didn't think anything of it.

"It made sense to her," said her son, Jimmy. "Her electricity went down, her gas consumption went down, I mean it went down across the board."

Jimmy has been trying to help his mother figure out why her most recent water bill was so high.

United Water told Jimmy and NBC10 that two years ago, the transmitter that sends the water usage reading to United Water stopped working properly, so Ada's water usage wasn't being reported accurately, and consequently, she wasn't being billed for the amount of water actually being used at her house.

Jimmy says he has repeatedly asked the company to explain how they calculated his mother's bill, if in fact the transmitter was malfunctioning. He says he has not been able to get a straight answer.

"The supervisor just kind of says the same thing, 'Bottom line is your mother hasn't been paying for consumption all this time, you've gotta pay, you've gotta pay, somebody has to pay for the water.'"

Frustrated, Jimmy reached out to NBC10 ConsumerWatch Reporter Tracy Davidson on her Facebook page. Tracy's Consumer team also asked United Water how the bill was calculated and they too have not gotten an answer. The company's response to NBC10 was:

"The meter reading is correct and was double checked. The bill stands as is and the offer of a payment plan was refused by the customer. She is responsible for paying off the balance."

United Water tells NBC10 that the Rivera’s bill has been reduced to $1,363.

We also spoke to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. They tell us the Rivera family is absolutely responsible for paying for their water usage. However, in terms of how the bill was calculated, we were told the Riveras should file a complaint with the New Jersey Board of Utilities, and the board will make sure the bill was calculated correctly, and help find some sort of resolution.

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