Vacant Home Gets $200 Water Bill
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ROWLETT (CBS11) - A Rowlett homeowner is looking for answers after her vacant home racked up a $200 water bill.
Kenna Arredondo moved out in June intending to renovate, but hasn't made much progress.
"We're not using the faucet," she said. "We're not running the dishwasher. Nobody's using the restroom, like nothing is happening here!"
Arredondo said she expected her water bill to drop. Instead it nearly doubled.
"I saw and was like, 'That can't be right!'" she said.
When she complained to the City of Rowlett, she said someone there told her someone must be stealing the water.
She finds that difficult to believe.
"I just felt taken advantage of, and I felt helpless. I didn't know who to contact or what to do about it," said Arredondo.
She vented on Facebook and received more than 100 responses; some sharing similar stories about unexpectedly high water bills in Rowlett.
"I really want them to investigate it. The problem is bigger than me," she said.
The city said it did investigate; hiring a third party last year to look into its water bills. No major problems were uncovered.
The city said it's now spending several million dollars on a wireless meter system that takes hourly readings and can alert residents to spikes in usage.
Rowlett city staff is looking into Arredondo's case.
In the meantime, her family plans to install cameras and cut off the water to make sure there isn't thief at work.
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