CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – While owning their home on Autumn Drive for close to 20 years, Joshua Cummings and his family have routinely paid $50 to $60 per month toward their Clarksville Gas & Water bill.
So it came as a surprise when they recently opened a bill for $1,000. “The first thing that my mother said was, ‘OK, there’s no way we should ever receive a bill that high,'” Cummings said.
He called Clarksville Gas & Water. “I tried to talk to them; I tried to find out what was going on because we moved into our property on Autumn Drive in like January 2006. We’re 19, creeping up on 20 years in this house, and our water bill has never been that high. I tried to express that to them, and they kept telling me, ‘No, it’s your responsibility to pay this bill.'”
Cummings said his family has been lost on what is causing the drastic increase in their bill, because they do not own a pool, nor are they building Noah’s Ark. With all of this in mind, the family said if they were to pay the $1,000 bill, which is due on Wednesday, Nov. 5, they wouldn’t have the funds for their mortgage.
“We are really in a spot with this bill, and we are beyond stressed,” Cummings said.
‘Always call Clarksville Gas & Water first’
Clarksville Now reached out to Clarksville Gas & Water General Manager Mark Riggins, who said it’s best to contact CGW, who can offer some ways to remedy the situation.
“We see this happen from time to time,” Riggins told Clarksville Now. “Where a customer has what seems like an exorbitant bill that’s many times the average use for them.” Riggins said in this scenario, always call Clarksville Gas & Water first, because they will come out at no charge and recheck the meter to be sure they read it right.
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“If we find it’s right, the customer can also take a second step and ask for a meter field test. What that is, is my technician will come out, and they will disconnect the meter from the service and run a known amount (of water) through that and another meter, just to make sure it’s right.”
Riggins said the meter field tests are free and are correct 99% of the time. “One further step the customer can take if they are not satisfied, they can ask for us to take the meter out of service and bring it in and put it onto a test bench inside of our office.
“We welcome the customer to witness that as well, but the only thing about it is, if we bring the meter in and we find the meter is right, the customer has to pay $125 and that’s for that effort,” he said. “If we find out that the meter is not reading correctly, then we don’t charge you.”
Plumbing leaks and billing adjustments
He also said that what they typically find are problems with internal plumbing, and unfortunately, that appears to be the case with the Cummings family.
“I don’t know about $1,000, but customers wouldn’t believe how much a simple toilet leak can cost them,” Riggins said. “With that being said, we do have a couple of avenues for adjustments if you do find a leak, get the proof, and get your plumber to fix it for you.
“Or if it’s a simple repair and you bring the receipts in, we’ll take those receipts. But here’s the only thing: If the water goes through the meter, we have to charge for it. Where you get an adjustment is if it doesn’t reach my sewer, what we’ll do is we’ll average that bill out.
“We would look at your average bills for the last six months to a year, and we would take that amount off the sewer side of that bill, because it didn’t enter the drain, therefore we didn’t have to treat it, therefore I’m not going to charge you.”
Riggins said that Clarksville Gas & Water allows for one adjustment per year, and he explained the reasoning behind it is to incentivize customers to have their leaks fixed.
What’s next for the Cummings family
Riggins said that after personally looking over the Cummings family account, he believes the $1,000 bill is coming from a plumbing leak on the property.
While that leak has not been identified, even after a plumber evaluated all fixtures in the house, the plan is for the Cummings family to meet with Clarksville Gas & Water to set up a payment plan for the $1,000 bill.
Cummings told Clarksville Now his family is still stuck either paying for their water or their house this week. While they hope to work something out, they were told their bill for next month is high as well.
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