Published November 26, 2019
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — Most people use more water than they think they do and even a tiny undetected leak can lose thousands of gallons over the course of a billing period, causing a sudden spike in a water bill.
That was part of the message brought to the Town Council last night by DPW Director Joseph Conway and Water & Sewer Division superintendent Steve Fitzpatrick. The other part of the message was that the DPW is there to help residents who have questions about their water bills and to get to the bottom of the reason for anything out of the ordinary.
“The customer experience is our top priority for every task we take on,” Conway said. “Resident questions and concerns are investigated and answered in an honest and professional manner.”
Conway and Fitzpatrick were on hand to respond a recent spate of inquiries related to unusually high water bills.
Conway said that the DPW tries to be proactive in educating and informing the public about a wide variety of issues, from recycling to their water bills. He showed several examples of written literature that is provided to new residents and said that the department is in the process of stepping up its online presence.
Conway noted that water meters are read every quarter (3 months) and the goal is to read meters every 90 Days. He said that there approximately 8,600 bills are mailed out quarterly.
“During review, if consumption appears to be substantially higher (at least double),” Conway said, “a phone call to the resident is attempted. If unsuccessful, a card is delivered with the bill asking the resident to contact us with a meter read.”
Conway said that toilets and sprinklers (in-ground irrigation systems) are the most common culprit when a water bill seems excessively high.
Each device contains parts subject to age and wear, he said. Toilets can experience poor sealing of flappers and malfunctioning fill mechanisms, causing silent overflow. Sprinkler systems are subject to environmental elements outside the control of the homeowner.
A tiny leak as small as 1/16 inch in diameter can leak as much as 74,000 gallons of water, he said. If that leak is in an in-ground sprinkler system, the homeowner could easily be unaware of it.
Conway displayed a sample history, tracking a water bill over a period of years and showed how average daily consumption can be tracked by the DPW to show either consistency of usage or identify anomalies.
Conway noted that another source of confusion may have stemmed from the decision last July to reinstate water and sewer service charges. After the July billing, he said, the DPW began fielding phone calls about “the math not adding up.”
The town’s IT Department was consulted and a vendor was brought in to manipulate the software programming to itemize billing lines and further promote transparency. All customers should see those changes reflected in their bills by the January billing cycle, Conway said.
Fitzpatrick said that the department is also considering creating a web page to show residents how to read and calculate what their water usage is. People generally don’t think they use as much water as they do, he said.
People sincerely believe that the consumption shown on their bills is too high because they can’t see what’s causing it, he added. Typically, the meter is not the problem.
Fitzpatrick said that the new “smart” meters that the DPW is installing can show 90 days-worth of water usage at one-hour intervals, which can show consumption patterns and help diagnose problems.
Conway stressed that anyone who has a question or concern about their water bill should contact the DPW either by phone at 781-246-6505 or in person at the DPW Office at Town Hall. DPW employees will even make house calls to try and help a customer solve a problem or address a concern related to their water bill.
“The goal is to make it understandable,” he said.