NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Frank Martino couldn’t believe what he owed the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County when he got his water bill in the mail.
“I sort of panicked, because I always pay my bills on time,” Martino said. “I make sure. I’m retired, and I make sure I have enough money to cover the bills.”
His bill, which he says is typically around $81 every three months, was a staggering $621!
“I’m willing to pay my bills, but this is ridiculous!” Martino told Channel 11’s Andrew Havranek.
He got a letter from the MAWC saying he used 50,000 more gallons of water than normal for the last three months.
Channel 11 reached out to the MAWC, which sent a statement.
“According to our records, his average bill is about $97, with about 6,000 gallons of usage a quarter, and his usage increase went to 56,000 gallons. This can happen with a toilet leak, which can occur when internal toilet mechanisms degrade over time. The fact that this higher usage occurred over that length of time also suggests something like a toilet leak.”
On Friday, crews with the MAWC showed up to test for a leak and found a leak in the internal plumbing of an upstairs toilet.
“I listened to it. I would hear it if it was leaking. You would hear water running,” Martino said, but said he never heard it.
On Friday, the water to that toilet was shut off and he’s planning to get a plumber to fix the leak.
But he said it took two weeks for the MAWC to come out to his house, and now his bill is late. He now owes $651.86!
“I’d like some type of talk with the water company about reducing this or somehow [to] make a reduction in payment on a plan of some type,” Martino said.
The municipal authority said there is an opportunity for some relief. When a customer has an accidental leak like Martino did, causing a major use of water, the MAWC offers a credit. They use a formula to find the average usage for the customer, then subtract that from the high usage of the leak.
The credit comes to an amount of 20% to 30% of the leak billing. But the customer must request it.
“We offer this courtesy credit to our customers as a once-in-a-lifetime credit for an unknown leak that has occurred,” said Matt Junker, Public Relations with the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. “We do this because there is a cost to pump, retain, and treat the water, so we can’t forgive the entirety.”
Martino said he’s grateful to Channel 11 for finding this information for him, and will request the credit, which he has never used before.
“I would like to see them more contact with the people to adjust the problem before it really gets out of hand,” Martino said.
He hopes others who might have an unknown leak will see this story. The MAWC says if you notice a leak, you can report it to them as soon as possible.
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