update on exorbitantly high DC Water bill

From the Thomas Street NW resident who initially reported the issue:

As follow up to my previous note about the exorbitant water bill, it turns out the my bill of $1,700 is to cover the last 2.5 years. While I was paying for water service and other charges each month during that period, I did not realize that I was not paying for water itself. It appears that I may not be the only person on Thomas St who is suddenly making a large arrears payment. See note from WASA below:

Begin forwarded message:

Good Afternoon:

I have just spoken with our Customer Services Department on your issue, and it appears that Commissioner Salatti is correct in that DC Water in fact installed new water meters on your street approximately 2.5 years ago. These newly installed meters, unfortunately, were not calculating your actual water usage, thus fees were the only thing being assessed during this time. As this is the case, you`d been receiving water without payment for usage of water during this time. While our Customer Services Department is certainly not absolved from its responsibility to properly meter the usage of water by our customers, this payment is nonetheless accurate as it does reflect the non-payment for water service received during this time frame.

In many of these cases, as yours is not alone, our Customer Services Department offers customers an optional payment plan as a method by which to make payments; alternately, customers may elect to appeal a water bill, which is done through the filing of an appeal form with our Customer Services Department. If you choose to file an appeal, please let me know and I will have our Customer Services Department send you the required appeal form.

I do sincerely apologize for this convenience, and please let me know if there is anything else that I can do.

Emanuel D. Briggs Coordinator, Construction Outreach, Public Affairs District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority emanuel.briggs@dcwater.com
5000 Overlook Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20032 (202)
787-2003 (202) 341-7952 (cell) (202) 787-2210 (fax)