June 03, 2004 :: The price of unleaded these days

The other day I received a bill from DC WASA, the local water & sewage utility. Actually the bill shows the name of the property owner, but since I am responsible for all the utilities, I opened it. They were asking for $758.35, and they were going to run that up to $799.80 if I didn't pay up by the end of June. I was sure I had paid some kind of water bill since I moved in almost two years ago, so I checked my records. I had never written a check to DC WASA. Still, the amount seemed high, so I called.

Turns out they had sent the account to a collections agency long before I had moved in, which is why I never saw a bill. The original bill date for some of this dates back to December 1999 even. As far as I can tell, the water's been on for five years without anyone paying a cent on the bill. They're supposed to send monthly bills, and I hadn't seen NOT ONE until now. They installed a new water meter in 2002, and then began an audit process that apparently didn't turn up this account until just now. So out of the $758.35, I probably only used about $300 worth of the actual water.

The property owner is my stepmother, though, so I'll go on ahead and pay it. But I wonder if I can get a discount based on the lead content...

posted by Rainmayun at 10:58 AM -