Dear Claudienne, 

I live in the United States. I am the owner of a premises in Kingston 20 and I am having problems with the National Water Commission (NWC). My brother is the agent for the premises and has been overseeing payment of the NWC bills.

Since March of last year (2019) no bills have been received from the NWC for the premises. When the agent enquired as to why we were receiving no NWC bills via mail for the premises, an NWC representative told him that it was the fault of the NWC mailroom why the bills were held up.

Although no NWC bills were being received for water usage at the premises, in the meantime, residents continued to make monthly payments to the NWC on the basis of previous bills that had been mailed to the premises.

However, my brother, who continued his efforts to get the bills, said he was told by an NWC customer service representative that they were being forwarded to an email address provided by a resident at my premises. However, none of the residents has any connection to the email addressmentioned by the NWC customer service representative,

On June 27,2019 my nephew went to the NWC office to enquire about the bill. The copy of the bill he received was for $26,460.27 of which $7,455.35 was the current charge. The outstanding balance on the bill he got was therefore $19,004.92.

Since June 27, 2019 no bill or letter has been received from the NWC. However, the residents of the premises have continued to pay the NWC estimated amounts of money monthly. Even though no NWC bills have been received for the premises, between June 2019 and February 2020, the residents paid the NWC a total of approximately $60,000.

My brother, the agent for the premises, was shocked when on February 13, 2020 an NWC agent gave him a disconnection notice for the premises.

On February 18,2020 my brother visited the NWC office and spoke to a senior customer service representative. Reading notes from her computer, the representative informed him that when the NWC observed that there was a spike in the bill an agent went to the premises in August, 2019 to investigate for possible leakage. She said the agent reported that he was not able to speak to anyone. Nevertheless, the NWC agent concluded that there was possible leakage on the premises.

She also told my brother that the computer notes further stated that there had been a significant drop in the water used at the premises in December 2019 and January 2020, and that the NWC had concluded that the leakage was fixed. My brother, the agent, said that he asked the customer service representative by whom had the leak been fixed. He said he informed her that he lived at the premises and that no repairs had been done to the water line pipes. He said the customer service agent then speculated that someone had probably fixed it in his absence.

Please note that my brother, the agent, has informed me that in June and July 2019, the NWC conducted pressure testing in the area. He said that when the tests were concluded and the NWC turned the water supply back on, the powerful force of the water caused pipes on the outside of my premises to break, which resulted in water running on the road. He said that the NWC had to be called to rectify the problem. There was no water entering through the pipes onto my premises.

I have been informed by water engineering experts that the powerful pressure when the NWC turns the water back on after pressure testing can affect the reading on the meter. I am therefore requesting that the NWC investigates whether the spike in water usage at the premises and the steep increase in the bill are linked to NWC pressure testing or any of the other numerous problems that affected water supply in the Corporate Area during 2019.

As no water bills were being received from the NWC for the premises, I would like to find out from the NWC the following:

(1) How much water was used at the premises each month from January to December 2019 and January and February 2020?

(2) What were the amounts owed for each month from January to December 2019 and for January to February 2020?

(3)Was the meter at the premises read each month during 2019?

(4) Has the meter been changed?

(5) What was the reading on the meter in July/August why the NWC felt that the water usage had spiked and sent an agent to the premises to check if there was a leak ?

(6) In which month did the NWC notice that the water usage at the premises had dropped significantly and the assumption was made that the leak was fixed??

I would appreciate your help and assistance to have the NWC clarify this matter.

Thank you,

D E

Dear D E

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the acting VP for Customer Affairs at the NWC about your complaint. The NWC has done an investigation into the matter and on March 23, 2020 sent Tell Claudienne an email that included a table that showed the amount of water that was used each month for the period January 22, 2019 to March 11, 2020.

The NWC e-mail reads as follows:

“Please note that following July’s increase in consumption two inspections were conducted, first on July 24, 2019, and on August 28, 2019. Our field investigators were unable to search the house as no one was in, however, the meter was inspected as it was found registering while no one was in. A high consumption letter was thereafter sent recommending that you check the property for leaks.

The next month’s usage went back to normal indicating that whatever had caused this anomaly no longer exists, as such no further checks were done. In addition to the consumption going back to normal, no complaint was received.

As it relates to the pressure test mentioned, please note that we do not stop or increase the flow of water to conduct this activity, therefore, [it] cannot be linked to a breakage on the service line or lines on the property. Further note that if there was a leak outside of the premises resulting from the pressure, your consumption would not have been affected as this leak was located before the meter and would not have been recorded. We reference the other account (xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx) in another name which is also on the property.

Note that after the supply was disconnected on February 13, 2020 a final bill was generated in the amount of $427,744.02; the meter reading as at this date was 2555 m3. A recheck was done on March 10, 2020 and the supply was found illegally reconnected, the supply was again disconnected with a reading of 2561 m3. The account was therefore billed for water consumed and a bridge supply fee of $12,500.00 was debited; another final bill was generated as at March 11, 2020 in the amount of $441,884.52.

Further note that an inspection was done at the premises today March 26, 2020, where the supply was found disconnected and the meter reading remains at 2561 m3.

Your concern regarding the email address is noted; please indicate which email address is to be updated or whether we are to send the bills to the service address. We wish to remind you of our contract indicating that if a bill is not received, you are obligated to

ascertain the monthly charges from the NWC.

We, however, empathise with the unfortunate situation. As such, we are willing to offer you a 25 per cent exceptional write-off on charges for the period July 2019 to August 2019. Please indicate if this is desired.

Tell Claudienne notes that you have decided to accept the concession offer from the NWC. We see that you and the NWC are discussing a payment plan for you to pay the NWC the outstanding amount owed for water usage at your premises .

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876- 936-9436 or cell # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.