Global Water Resources Global Water Ripoff on Billing & Water Usage Readings Internet
About 1 1/2 or 2 years ago our City, Grass Valley California, contracted with Global Water Resources to take over the water and sewer billing. I didn't pay much attention then but wasn't happy about our City contracting with some out of state company to do what employees in our own city should be doing. Then on July 14, 2011 our water meter was replaced with a Smart Meter. Our old water meter was only 12 years old and I don't like the idea of Smart Meters in the first place. I was busy and didn't see them install our Smart Meter and being so busy I didn't read the old meter before they removed it and didn't think to check the new meter regularly after it was installed.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 I got a call from Global Water Resources. Through the conversation "about our sudden high water usage" I knew "Nicole" was preparing us for a very high bill. I didn't have any documentation handy so I really couldn't discuss much with her at the time. So later that day I went on line to Global Water to see what our bill said. The bill wasn't up yet even though they had already sent the paper bill out which we received the following day, Oct. 6, 2011. I opened the bill when it came and I was in shock! $388.55 for 2 months. The water usage read 70,664 gallons for 60 days. There are 2 of us living here. My husband has been in this house since 1962 and I have been here since 1980 and we have never used anywhere near 70,000 gallons of water in 60 days. We do not have a huge yard and we have no pool or spa. I got my water bills out for this period of time since 2009 and all of a sudden our water usage for this 2 month period more than tripled since 2009 yet our water usage habits have not changed and we had a cooler than normal summer this year.
On October 7, 2011 (4 days ago) I began checking the water meter daily at the same time, every 24 hours. Then I went to Global Water on line and checked their figures for daily usage. So far their figures for our daily water usage have differed greatly from my readings. Their figures are stating that we have used anywhere from 200 to almost 800 more gallons daily than the meter says we have used. I have printed out these figures from the website daily and the first 2 days that I printed them out they had totally different figures listed on the 2 printouts for the same days. The printout I did on October 7 stated we used 45 gallons of water on Oct. 6, but the printout I did on October 8 stated we used 336 gallons on Oct. 6. All the days listed on these two 7 day reports had different amounts listed on the two days I printed them out. There were also errors on the "previous and current" readings stated on our present bill and our last bill which included the new Smart Meter readings. I am going to the City of Grass Valley today to complain and am also calling Global Water Resources again and if they do not do something about our bill immediately I am filing a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission before Oct. 19 when our bill is due and deposit a check for the bill with the CPUC to avoid water shutoff. This Global Water Resources seems very crooked to me and they need to be investigated and if necessary, a class action lawsuit filed against them.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
GVscam
Grass Valley,California,
United States of America
Usage Check
#2Consumer Suggestion
Fri, May 11, 2012
I too have been a 'victim' of this change over. I had to hire a plumber to replace my shut-off valve to the house water supply after they installed their new meter. Both are in the same box. The shut-off always worked flawlessly before their installation. They denied any liability even though they admitted their could be a 'slight' chance of debris entering the gate in the valve.
Now, I too have high water bills, though not as excessive as yours. I saved my water bills for years and have proof that way but, of course, the city billings could have been wrong, too. This is something we will never know for sure.
One way you can check the accuracy is to check, on line, the useage when you are gone for a couple of days to make sure it registers "0'. Then have someone fill a 1 gal. jug at your outside faucet. Then check on line again. It should register '1' for that day. Then fill a 5 gal. container and do the same again. This way you can also check for any leaks you may not be aware of. As for the difference in daily readings, you will want to find out if your meter is read at the same time each day or, if they sometimes bleed over into the next day's reading.
For most of us it is pretty inconvenient to have to not use the water in your home for a couple of days. It takes a commitment but might be worth it. Then, with this information you can call Global and request them to check your calibration on your digital meter.
These are all suggestions that I have not yet pursued with them but intend to do so soon. I have kept a record of my on line readings and when I'm gone, I get '0' readings but wonder if the meter isn't spinning double time when I AM using water.
Good luck!!