BELL COUNTY, Texas — Tony Brubaker said he normally sees a water bill around $45 dollars. When his December bill from Dog Ridge Water Supply Corporation totaled $4287.61, Brubaker was shocked. The bill said he had used over 700,000 gallons in a month.
A graph that came with the bill said he had a leak that started on Oct. 25. He didn't catch it until Nov. 19th, when he and his daughter noticed an odd sound on the property.
"I was stepping in water before I could get to the deal (meter), had to take that lid off and roll my selves up and reach all the way down to the handle in the water to turn it off," Brubaker said.
The meter was located at the edge of the property, and Brubaker said he never saw water building up in the area.
He said he can't believe Dog Ridge Water Supply Corporation didn't notice the issue on its end.
"One of the guys said they can monitor when there is a leak. They are notified about it and they notify the customer," Brubaker said. "The didn't notify me! They didn't notify me at all. I notified them!"
Channel 6 reporter Andrew Moore confronted the water supply company on why no action was taken.
General Manager Lafonda Wilsey said the company doesn't actually have the ability to remotely monitor water meters, so the company can't notify a customer about a leak unless it sees it or gets a strange water meter reading.
The company said because of its limited personnel, it only checks meters once a month.
"Anything between the meter reading period we can't monitor," Wilsey said. "If the customer has a high bill we can, we do have the capability to go back with a data logger."
Wilsey said the company can only get water usage data by downloading it directly from a meter, after there is a problem. In Brubaker's case, Wilsey said the problem was on Brubaker's side, and the meter and the company is not liable.
"The situation with his water line, not being properly buried in the ground were it should have been, did cause the pipe to pull out of a fitting," Wilsey said. "Anything on their side of the meter, they are generally responsible for."
Wilsey said they are going to reduce Brubaker's bill to around $3,000 by charging him the lowest rate for the water, which is a common practice when a customer has a leak they must pay for.
When Moore asked if there should be more safeguards to help the company monitor for potential leaks before they get to this point, Wilsey said there was nothing else Dog Ridge WSC could do.
"We don't currently have anything in place to monitor that type of situation. It's on the customer's side," Wilsey said. "It's their responsibility to pay attention what's going on in their own yard."