Tucson News NowChanges could be coming to Tucson Water

Changes could be coming to the way Tucson Water charges for water usage after several people received unusually high water bills.

We've been following this story for about a month and several people have contacted Tucson News Now with the same problem, wanting to know why their bill was so high.

Robert Walker is one of those people.  He has lived in Tucson for decades and last March he received a water bill for $1,752.76.  

"Amazed, just unbelievable, shock," Walker said about his reaction.  He said his bills normally average around $50-60. "I'm retired, I have a limited income. So its not easy." 

According to his bill, Tucson Water says he used 163 cubic feet of water in March of 2011, that's equivalent to more than 1,200 gallons of water.

"I would have been required to pay about $300 had they used the basic amount for that large bill that they came up with," he said.

Walker is referring to Tucson Water's four-tier billing system.  The initiative aims to conserve water. 

Here's the breakdown:

If you use 1-15 cubic feet of water you pay $1.60.

If you use 16-30 cubic feet of water you pay $6.05.

If you use 31-45 cubic feet of water you pay $8.67.

If you use Over 45 cubic feet of water you pay $11.85.

In this case, Tucson Water says Walter used more than 45 cubic feet so his bill totaled up to more than $1,700.

Cheryl Avila, meter manager for Tucson Water, said Tucson Water is looking for ways to change the leak-adjustment policy.  They plan on submitting a proposal to the City Council and Mayor next week.

"If somebody has had a large leak and the bulk of that leak is in the higher tier, you can understand why their bill would be large and so that's what Tucson Water wants to look at," Avila said.

As for the meter reads, Avila says the water company has a 99% accuracy rate.  In fact, she says in the last year they read more than 2.8 million meters and only had 918 inaccurate reads.

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