MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Neighbors are looking for answers from the town of Mooresville government after many people opened up their water bills to find they would have to pay double. The catch, those neighbors told WCNC Charlotte, is that the usage recorded is not accurate.
Hannah Wyatt's mother has lived in the same house in town for almost two decades. She said nothing has changed for the most part, until she received something that she calls out of the ordinary.
"A $330 water bill," Wyatt said, claiming it wasn't adding up.
"We called and they told us that she used 24,000 gallons in a month where her usual consumption was 6,600 gallons, Wyatt said.”
She's not alone. Comments flowed in on the neighborhood Facebook group, all with the same issue.
Mooresville Neighborhood comments
Brandy Rufty lives in the neighborhood, too. She said her water bill doubled in one month.
"The graph looks about double in usage for this month," Rufty said. "No, it makes no sense.”
For weeks, neighbors have asked the town about the usage questions. They all got the same answer.
"It could be from 'watering my grass', and I explained I don’t have a sprinkler system," Rufty said.
"She gave me tips on how to put dye in my toilet to check it. I found red dye and did it, no leak," Wyatt said. She also said a similar check of her irrigation system turned up no leaks, but cost her about $500.
WCNC Charlotte took our questions to the town government. The town sent back a statement:
"The Town of Mooresville water utility rates have remained unchanged since July 2013, when they were reduced to current levels.
Below please find the amounts of water sold (meaning water that went through customer meters and was billed) to Town residential customers–not including separate irrigation accounts–from January through June of 2022:
- Jan – 68 million gallons
- Feb – 66 million gallons
- Mar – 78 million gallons
- April – 75 million gallons
- May – 79 million gallons
June – 103 million gallons (the largest monthly residential consumption on record for Town of Mooresville)
The Town produced an average of 9.1 million gallons per day of water in June, with one day exceeding 12 million gallons for the first time ever. Average production is 7.2 million gallons per day.
A spike in water consumption over the summer months is not unexpected. It is very common, especially in areas experiencing dry, hot weather, that water systems see an increase in residential consumption due in part to irrigation efforts. Looking at the attached “Total Water Meter Consumption” and “Historical Irrigation Consumption” images, you will notice a spike on both graphs during the summer months."
"You can even compare it to June of last year, just as hot, and it’s half of what it is," Rufty pointed out.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.