Padre Dam Municipal Water District

To Whom It May Concern:The customer contacted our office on July 11, to complain about a high water bill he received for over $1,000. He stated he had been out of town and there was no way this water could have been used. Padre Dam responded immediately and began an
investigation to see if we could find a cause. Each property is metered by a water meter to measure the amount of water used each month for customer billing. The meter measures the amount of water used, not how the water is used. A meter is similar to an odometer on one's car. Mileage can't accrue on a car that is parked in the driveway. In the same way, a water meter can't advance without water passing through it. If a water meter malfunctions, it breaks entirely and doesn't record any consumption. Padre Dam sent a technician to the customer address and verified the meter reading was correct on 7/13/16. He then gave the property a visual inspection and did not notice anything out of the ordinary like green grass or a wet spot somewhere. The technician also noted the meter was not moving at the time of his visit indicating the customer did not have a leak of some sort. In addition, Padre Dam has an electronic meter reading system that allows customers to view their usage and set alerts when dollar amounts or quantity of gallons are reached any time. This software was reviewed and confirmed the high usage coincided with the day and time the customer left the house and the day and time he returned from out of town. The system showed continuous water flow for the time period the customer was out of town. It was shared with the customer that a toilet was probably leaking the entire time the customer was out of town and then was adjusted on return. This is a typical cause of a high water bill where water goes down the drain and doesn't surface anywhere. The customer did speak with a number of Padre Dam personnel including the General Manager. The General Manager offered to test the customer water meter for free to confirm it was not malfunctioning. Customer denied the offer. Customer has recently called our office and made payment arrangements to pay the bill in installments which we agreed to