by Laura Lieff

While increasing water rates are nothing new, some Cherry Creek Valley residents have recently been dealing with more than a simple increase over the last few months. In the Country Club area, residents, who are accustomed to receiving water bills for two digit sums, have been receiving water bills for $900 to $1,000 one month out of a 12 month period.

Leading the fight to find answers is real estate broker Sonja Leonard of Leonard Leonard & Associates who has been in business for 28 years. After receiving water bills for $40 on a property located at 1111 E. 3rd Avenue, Leonard received a bill for just over $1,000 in February 2008 and another bill for just over $900 in September 2008. Outraged at the “spike” in her water bill, Leonard said she called Denver Water to find out what was going on.

“I’ve received these spikes in water bills in 2007 and 2008 and every time I call Denver Water they either don’t call me back or tell me that they checked the water meter and report that it’s fine,” said Leonard. “It’s so frustrating because none of this makes any sense. The high water spikes come out of the blue and no one knows why.”

Fishing For Victims

When Leonard received the first high water bill for the 1111 E. 3rd Avenue property, the house was vacant and no one was living there. She said that there was no running water, no kitchen, no working toilets or sprinkler systems yet she still got a large bill. After calling Denver Water and getting no response other than referring to the meter, Leonard, the self-proclaimed “activist against high water bills” sent out a letter around the neighborhood “fishing for other victims” who had suddenly received high water bills.

Leonard’s letter indicated that she had recently renovated the house at 1111 E. 3rd Avenue and that she received a bill for $885, while a family at 6th and Lafayette received a bill for more than $800 after street digging had occurred. Leonard pointed to the fact “their plumber verified that there were no leaks on their property.” The rest of the letter asked for others to come forward and contact her if they believed they were victims of high water bills or knew of someone who was. Three neighbors responded saying they had the same problem.

“Yes, our city’s water prices are going up because of all the big mansions in the suburbs but the prices shouldn’t be spiking and then going back to the original amount,” noted Leonard. “This is not a water rate increase; this is a huge, unexplainable spike.”

Water Meter Issues

Leonard and the other people that called her about their high water bills all had plumbers and sprinkler experts come to their respective homes to check on leaks or breaks but found nothing.

Ryan Gies, owner of Colorado Rhino Plumbing & Pipefitting, said that he has had two clients in the last few months that have had water bills that exceeded $1,000. After checking around both houses and finding no leaks or breaks, Gies did some research and found out that both clients had water meter issues regardless of what Denver Water stated.

“I had one client who received a huge water bill because their meter hadn’t been calibrated properly,” explained Gies. “Apparently Denver Water has changed their arrangement to a drive-by system — meaning that instead of the technician personally checking the meter (sight reading) — the technician drives by the house and there is a radio frequency that tells them what the meter says without them having to get out of the car.”

Meter Issues

Gies continued to explain, “Unfortunately, not all meters have been changed from sight reading to radio transmission and they don’t correlate, resulting in incorrect meter readings and incorrect bills.”

Gies also said that if there was a toilet running or there was a broken faucet a plumber would know right away if that were the problem. He pointed out that he comes across meters that aren’t calibrated properly and that if there is a house that is vacant and the address receives a high water bill that it has to be a meter issue.

Leonard clearly agrees. “They [Denver Water] always claim that their meter has been checked and that it’s fine, said Leonard. “That’s their M.O.”

What To Do?

Leonard says her biggest frustration is that she, along with the rest of the water bills victims, can’t do anything about her situation.

“It’s like having the mafia in the middle of city government,” she noted. “Should I just assume that there will be a $1,000 bill on my doorstep one month out of the year every year?”

To get the other side of the story, the Chronicle called Denver Water to see what they had to say. Media Relations Specialist Stacy Chesney explained that “Denver Water structures its rates based on water usage and that after the summer months people see higher water bills because of the amount of water used to water their lawns.”

Water Issues

Chesney went on to say that Denver Water gets a lot of calls in the fall about high water bills from summer water use. She also pointed out that “we live in an arid climate and wasting water isn’t acceptable; therefore we want people to use their water wisely.”

When asked about procedures concerning high water bills, Chesney said that if customers call about their bill, Denver Water goes to the address to check things out. If the customer asks for a water audit then technicians perform a more in-depth review of water use (they check for inside and outside water use) that is free of charge.

“We want people who have concerns about their water bills to call us,” explained Chesney. “There is no general answer when it comes to high water bills because each case is different.”

Grass Is Greener

That being said, Chesney checked on several addresses including Leonard’s 1111 E. 3rd Avenue property. Chesney said that technicians had been out to the property six times since October 2007 and that when the house was vacant, Denver Water noticed that the lawn was very green and there was new sod in place. Chesney said that the amount of water it takes to make grass grow that well is extensive, which probably accounted for the large bill.

Upon being informed of Chesney’s response, Leonard simply replied, “That’s b.s. We used existing sod that didn’t require that much water.”

When customers have high water bills and technicians conclude that their meter wasn’t reset properly, Chesney explained that the customer can ask for a hearing to get their bill adjusted or to dispute the bill. She said that there are standard investigational procedures that Denver Water follows prior to granting a hearing as rereading the meter, checking for constant flow, pulling and testing the meter and recommending a Water Audit.

“As a result of the investigation, the problem typically is identified and sometimes resolved without a hearing,” Chesney explained. “We also may attempt to reach a solution to the billing problem with the customer so that the customer is satisfied without going to a hearing. This can include adjustments for billing errors, equipment failures or leak adjustments.”

Chesney further explained that while a number of factors can result in a hearing, the customer does need to have a substantive reason for requesting a hearing beyond “my water bill is too high.”

In response, Leonard indicated that it’s totally up to Denver Water whether or not they like your “substantive reason.”

What’s Recourse?

Although Chesney claims that if customers call Denver Water they will get a response, Leonard says otherwise. “What irritates me is that there is no recourse. They just rely on the meter and then they’re done with it. There is a lack of responsibility and accountability and no one seems to have any answers.”

Leonard continues, “They [Denver Water] know that there is nothing you can do because if you don’t pay the bill they will just shut your water off.” In the meantime, Leonard is encouraging other high water bill victims to come out and say, “I’ve got the spike.”

“We need to hear from people who have also had the problem,” explained Leonard. “I love this area and I’m not going to let a big corporate water board push around people who live in this beautiful neighborhood. It makes you wonder how many people are blindly paying these bills.”

For more information from Sonja Leonard, give her a call at 303-744-6200. For Denver Water Customer Care call 303-893-2444.