CALLAWAY — It’s a great mystery, at least from Callaway’s perspective.
How could a household run up a $1,974 water bill — using 454,830 gallons of water — in one month?
“My house would be flooded,” said Chris Coffey said, who got the big bill. “I would have to seal up my doors and windows.”
Coffey brought his bill to Tuesday’s Callaway City Commission meeting in search of an answer to the mystery. But the discussion produced few answers and one big question the commission still wants answered: Where did the water go?
“If the water has gone through the line, the truth is simple,” Mayor Thomas Abbott said. “We get water from Bay County; they’ll charge us. We have an obligation to bill the right people.”
The charge was for the irrigation meter separate from Coffey’s normal water account.
City Manager Michael Fuller said Friday that there must be some type of mistake either with the meters or how they were read.
However, Fuller was sure Coffey’s irrigation meter had been rechecked since the bill was so high, ensuring an accurate reading. He said Thursday the meter showed 454,830 gallons flowed through at 238 Hugh Thomas Drive in October.
At the commission’s request, Fuller also checked the monthly bill from Bay County and was unable to identify a 450,000 gallon excess. The commission tabled a decision on Tuesday until the next meeting.
Public Works Superintendent Larry Johnson said an irrigation leak, below ground, could emit a sizable amount of water, but there would be signs of water pressure loss — which Coffey said he did not have. Johnson told Fuller that, as of Thursday, there was no leak in the irrigation system.
“We’re still checking to see if there is a possibility that it’s anything else,” Fuller said.
Coffey had never signed up for an irrigation account. Coffey said the owner of the property — he rents it — did have an irrigation system and a meter. He moved into the house in June and the previous tenants had used the sprinkler system.
“I know he did not sign up for an account,” Fuller said. “He still used the water though.”
Before September the irrigation meter at Coffey’s residence had not been audited since June of 2012. Coffey’s theory is that the irrigation system and meter were both running for a two-year period. He calculated that if about 20,000 gallons per month were used for a two-year period, the total used would be about the same as he is being charged for.
“The meter could be accurate,” Coffey said. “It could be human error.”
Johnson, who said the meters were checked to be 99 percent accurate, was unsure why the irrigation meter was not checked for two years.
“That was before our time,” said Johnson, who started in June 2013. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Abbott said it would not be possible to use that amount of water in a month.
“If it’s not his, we’re not going to ask him to pay for it,” Abbott said.
Coffey said he would seek legal counsel if the city persists that the bill is his responsibility.
“They’re crazy if they think I’m going to pay this,” he said.