Seth Priestner, a Texas man, opened his water bill as he would normally would every month. While opening bills does hurt from time to time, nothing would prepare Priestner for the number he saw. Apparently, he had to pay $10,000 to the San Antony Water System (SAWS), contrary to the regular $115 a month he had been paying.
Videos by Wide Open Country
"At first we thought they sent us the wrong bill. Like maybe they sent us a commercial bill," said Priestner, according to KENS 5, a local San Antonio TV station. "But upon calling SAWS they said 'no that is your bill.'"
According to SAWS, Priestner had used over 355,000 gallons of water. While some men do drink a lot of water daily - and you should too - using half of an Olympic swimming pool in a single month is truly an achievement. Priestner immediately called a plumber to see if there was a leak, but none was found.
Eventually, SAWS corrected the bill and granted a reduction. Priestner, relieved, checked what his new water bill looked like. He was dumbfounded for a second time when he now needed to pay $3,500. He was fined with a Stage 3 Drought Surcharge fee. Said fine is applied to SAWS customers who use excessive water during droughts.
"That is strictly there to discourage people from using excessive water," said Priestner. "I don't think that's the case here. It doesn't make sense to fine someone."
A Miscalculation
Priestner called SAWS once again and he found out that the company had estimated Priestner's water usage in June and July. "Because there were two estimated reads we couldn't be sure when that water use was happening in those two months, so we did give him a partial credit," said Anne Hayden, a SAWS spokeswoman.
The inaccurate calculation was eventually fixed and SAWS dropped the fine. Moreover, they changed Priestner's water meter for a new SAWS ConnectH20. This new meter helps customers monitor their water usage. It helped Priestner's family with a water leak after they left a hose running in September.
"This is going to be a wonderful thing to use and we are looking forward to all our customers having access to it," said Hayden about the ConnectH20.
Priestner, who now does not have to worry about paying thousands in water bills, is appreciative of SAWS and KENS 5. The latter helped Priestner and allowed the fine to be dropped by SAWS.
