Latest news with #watermeter
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Utah mudslides destroy hillside mansions
A hillside water meter malfunction triggered a destructive mudslide, sending tons of mud and debris crashing into homes in one of Utah 's most upscale neighborhoods and forcing emergency evacuations. The devastating incident began shortly after 8pm on Tuesday near 3100 East Silver Hawk Drive in Holladay, where a water meter failed on a steep slope above the ritzy homes. Emergency response crews responded to reports of flooding, only to realize a large volume of mud and water had broken loose, slamming into at least three properties. One home took the brunt of the slide, with several feet of mud filling the basement. No injuries were reported, but three homes were evacuated as a precaution. 'It seemed like an explosion of water coming out from up there, and it just started rushing down,' resident Paul Holmes, whose basement apartment was inundated, told KSL-TV5. 'We can't even get the doors open because the mud is keeping them shut, so we have to go through the back windows.' Holmes said the damage is severe and will require a full gut of the space. 'It's a full restoration - like, tear it down to the studs,' he said. Authorities believed a water main had ruptured at first, however, it was later discovered by Salt Lake City Public Utilities officials that the break came from the sacrificial bottom of a water meter box - a built-in fail-safe designed to release pressure and prevent a full-blown pipe burst. 'The meter did exactly what it was supposed to do,' Chloe Morroni, communications manager for the utility department, said. 'It's just - the topography out here certainly caused some issues,' she said, adding that the same design on a flat surface would have likely caused 'no issues.' Normally, the release would saturate nearby ground, but in this case, the meter sat roughly 50 to 75 feet above the neighborhood on a steep incline, she explained. The released water quickly destabilized the slope, triggering the devastating slide. 'I look out the garage, and I just see all this, like, dirty water gushing and just a bunch of stuff falling. It was just really chaotic,' Piper Knight, a local resident who witnessed the slide, said. Local fire departments worked for over two hours to contain the flow, building dikes - barriers to hold back water - to redirect mud and shut down the water source. City utility crews reportedly stayed on the scene overnight and into Wednesday morning. Now, the 21-year-old meter will be replaced with a modern 'smart' version, according to Morroni. In addition, the city will bring in contractors to shore up the hillside and conduct geotechnical assessments to determine what additional protections may be needed. 'We'll do what we can to not only replace it, but make it even stronger,' Jason Draper, chief engineer for Salt Lake City Public Utilities, told the outlet, adding that the city is looking into 'adding retaining walls.' Officials have since acknowledged that aging infrastructure - especially in hilly terrain - poses unique risks. 'We hate to see this happen. It's so unfortunate. I'm thankful no one was injured and the water line was not broken itself, so that it did not knock a whole bunch of homes out of water,' Morroni said. The Utah Division of Public Utilities have also emphasized the importance of funding long-term infrastructure upgrades. 'The Division strongly supports a rate-funded capital reserve account to ensure the companies can replace aging infrastructure and respond to emergencies,' Division Director Chris Parker said in a statement.
Daily Mail
17-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Devastating mudslides ruin hillside mansions in ritzy Utah neighborhood
A hillside water meter malfunction triggered a destructive mudslide, sending tons of mud and debris crashing into homes in one of Utah 's most upscale neighborhoods and forcing emergency evacuations. The devastating incident began shortly after 8pm on Tuesday near 3100 East Silver Hawk Drive in Holladay, where a water meter failed on a steep slope above the ritzy homes. Emergency response crews responded to reports of flooding, only to realize a large volume of mud and water had broken loose, slamming into at least three properties. One home took the brunt of the slide, with several feet of mud filling the basement. No injuries were reported, but three homes were evacuated as a precaution. 'It seemed like an explosion of water coming out from up there, and it just started rushing down,' resident Paul Holmes, whose basement apartment was inundated, told KSL-TV5. 'We can't even get the doors open because the mud is keeping them shut, so we have to go through the back windows.' Holmes said the damage is severe and will require a full gut of the space. 'It's a full restoration - like, tear it down to the studs,' he said. Authorities believed a water main had ruptured at first, however, it was later discovered by Salt Lake City Public Utilities officials that the break came from the sacrificial bottom of a water meter box - a built-in fail-safe designed to release pressure and prevent a full-blown pipe burst. 'The meter did exactly what it was supposed to do,' Chloe Morroni, communications manager for the utility department, said. 'It's just - the topography out here certainly caused some issues,' she said, adding that the same design on a flat surface would have likely caused 'no issues.' Normally, the release would saturate nearby ground, but in this case, the meter sat roughly 50 to 75 feet above the neighborhood on a steep incline, she explained. The released water quickly destabilized the slope, triggering the devastating slide. 'I look out the garage, and I just see all this, like, dirty water gushing and just a bunch of stuff falling. It was just really chaotic,' Piper Knight, a local resident who witnessed the slide, said. Local fire departments worked for over two hours to contain the flow, building dikes - barriers to hold back water - to redirect mud and shut down the water source. City utility crews reportedly stayed on the scene overnight and into Wednesday morning. Now, the 21-year-old meter will be replaced with a modern 'smart' version, according to Morroni. In addition, the city will bring in contractors to shore up the hillside and conduct geotechnical assessments to determine what additional protections may be needed. 'We'll do what we can to not only replace it, but make it even stronger,' Jason Draper, chief engineer for Salt Lake City Public Utilities, told the outlet, adding that the city is looking into 'adding retaining walls.' Officials have since acknowledged that aging infrastructure - especially in hilly terrain - poses unique risks. 'We hate to see this happen. It's so unfortunate. I'm thankful no one was injured and the water line was not broken itself, so that it did not knock a whole bunch of homes out of water,' Morroni said. The Utah Division of Public Utilities have also emphasized the importance of funding long-term infrastructure upgrades. 'The Division strongly supports a rate-funded capital reserve account to ensure the companies can replace aging infrastructure and respond to emergencies,' Division Director Chris Parker said in a statement. But for residents like Holmes, the immediate concern is recovery. His driveway remains buried under mud, and access to his home is limited. 'I've already talked to a disaster restoration company,' he said. 'It's going to take a lot of work to fix the damage.'
RNZ News
14-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
New Plymouth residents say proposed water charge changes will be unfair
One resident says every dwelling should have its own meter just as they did for electricity and for gas. Photo: LDR / Emily Ireland New Plymouth councillors have been told proposed changes to how water is charged for will be unfair to people living in apartments or on cross-lease sections with multiple dwellings. Currently ratepayers are charged a flat $547 for water, but from 2027 they will be billed at least in part according to volume of water used. Council is considering three options for how those charges would be levied. Fixed charge plus a volumetric charge or a fixed charge plus a volumetric charge with a daily allocation of water (100 litres) or fully volumetric charging. Council received more than 1000 written submissions on the proposals and heard oral presentations at a hearing on Monday. Elaine Gill spoke on behalf of the residents of the Liardet Apartments in the inner-city. She said the 25 apartments - a mix of one to three bedroom apartments, nine of which were rentals, one an AirBnB and 15 owner-occupied - would have just one water meter installed for the whole building. "We want individual council-supplied water meters for each apartment... and there is space where our water is supplied for a meter to be installed." If that wasn't possible the block's residents wanted a fixed charge - based on average residential use in New Plymouth - with volumetric charging. Gill worried about how water use would be calculated . "It's totally unfair. There is a need to recognise that each apartment is different, each has a different number of people living there. "We have one apartment with three bedrooms and one person living in there and one apartment with two bedrooms that has five people living there, and obviously their water usage is going to be very different." Councillor Sam Bennett asked Gill if the apartment owners would be willing to pay to install individual meters. Gill didn't think that was a fair solution either. "If we are talking about equity, if we had 25 individual dwellings in Westown they would all have their own water meter [installed by council]. "Why is it that because we are all packed up one on top of the other that we can't have the same consideration." John Staddon owned rental properties on a cross-leased section and had received a letter from council saying only one meter would be installed and water costs shared between the dwellings. "My concern is that the definition of shared needs some further clarification. For example, where there are two properties on a cross-lease section would sharing be on a 50-50 basis? "If so, what consideration would be made should one of the properties have a family of four, both parents working, two cars, maybe a spa pool, and the other occupant a widow on superanuation? "The use of water by the family would be far higher than the other occupant. A 50-50 share in this scenario is not equitable. Unless there is a formula that recognises the size of the dwelling and number occupants 50-50 sharing is wrong." Staddon said every dwelling should have its own meter just as they did for electricity and for gas. "Payment for electricity or gas is not shared and neither is phone or internet connection, so why then should water charges be." Staddon said as a landlord he would be willing to drop rents if part of the water charge was removed from his rates bill, but he was not willing to pay for the installation of additional meters. Veronica Edwards also owned a cross-lease section with two independent households on it. "Under the current plan we're stuck with one meter. I believe this approach is neither fair or just for people living in multiple dwellings." Mayor Neil Holdom said that for every dollar invested in meters, council expected to make savings of between $4 and $5 over the life of the meter "but in some cases to install meters in every property it may cost us $4000 to $5000 in plumbing, maybe more". Submitter Hannah-Miriam Knuckey said if council insisted that additional meters be paid for by property owners it should pay the upfront costs and allow people to pay the meter off via their rates - interest free - over five to 10 years. Council had so far installed more than 23,000 roadside water meters at a cost of $24 million. It was envisaged they would eventually save council $40 million in capital expenditure by encouraging efficient water use and identifying leaks. The meters had already been credited with identifying 180 leaks, saving 1.75 million litres of water daily in New Plymouth, where water usage was up to two times that of other similar-sized communities. Council would decide on a charging system in August. A year-long "mock billing" trial would start in July next year to allow households to monitor water use, fix leaks and prepare for volumetric charging in beginning July 2027. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
10-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Watercare charges Auckland woman $800 bill due to faulty meter
Watercare admits up to 16,000 of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters were faulty. Photo: Supplied / Watercare Watercare has issued a public apology - via RNZ's Checkpoint - to a user facing an estimated $800 water bill, due to a faulty meter. The water provider now admits up to 16,000 of its 40,000 EDMI smart meters around Auckland are faulty, generating zero bills and leading to substantial catch-up bills. Two weeks ago, Lizzie from the North Shore told Checkpoint about a $410 bill that she refused to pay, until it was "based in fact and not just plucked out of the air". She subsequently received another, even bigger bill that equated to using 4342 litres of water a day. The Browns Bay couple now face a combined bill of about $1200. "This has gone beyond being mildly irritating," Lizzie said. "I can't figure out where this has come from. "I went back through our previous bills - our monthly water usage is somewhere between $65-75. The most it's ever been was $85 over a Christmas/New Year period. "I can't figure out why they're saying we must pay our overdue accounts immediately to avoid further action, when they were the ones that agreed we should cancel our direct debit, because the previous bill was over the time. "I don't know what's going on. I can't figure out how anyone could use this amount of water. "They don't value their customers, do they?" Checkpoint host Lisa Owens was able to pass on a message from Watercare. "They say they have made a mistake, and they'll get in touch with you directly to apologise and sort this," she said. "They said they sincerely apologise for the inconvenience to you, and they will get you a new water meter and sort out that large bill, which is an estimation." Lizzie responded emotionally: "I want to say thank you to you, but it shouldn't have come to this, should it? "Could you imagine a small business trying to operate this way - they wouldn't survive. "I'm really grateful for what you've done for me ... really, really grateful." Watercare admitted to Checkpoint it had made a mistake with the estimation, blaming a processing error by the service agent. It said it would re-assess the charge in line with past water consumption at that address. Of the 16,000 fault meters, 13,672 have been shifted to manual reading and the balance are scheduled to move to manual reading. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Sky News
25-06-2025
- General
- Sky News
'My water company has raised my bills by 50% but is refusing to fit a meter - what do I do?'
Reader Rachael got in touch with the Money team after her water bill went up by almost 50%... I've just been told my water bill is rising by almost 50%. We are retired, our kids have flown the nest and we live in a four-bed detached house. Our bills are through the roof even though we hardly use any water - we don't have a hosepipe for our garden and we take short showers. But our supplier is refusing to give us a water meter. What can we do? Money blog editor Jimmy Rice tackles this one... Thank you for your question, Rachael. The general rule of thumb is that if you have more bedrooms than people in the house, or even the same amount, you could save money by having a water meter - so you're right to want one. Since 1990, it has been mandatory for new homes to have a meter. Yours is an issue we hear about a lot with water companies refusing to fit one on homes older than that. Citizens Advice points out that you have a right to be charged for your water on the basis of what you use (tenants also have the right to ask for a meter if their tenancy agreement is for six months or longer) - with one big but: "You have a right to have a meter installed free of charge, unless it's not practical or is unreasonably expensive to do this." It might not be practical if the water supply is shared, if there is inaccessible pipework or the water company cannot find a suitable location for the meter. "If you can't have a water meter installed for any reason, your water company may be able to put you on a cheaper tariff to save money," Citizens Advice says. How your water bill is calculated Most unmetered homes are charged based on the "rateable value" of their home. In a nutshell, before April 1990, every property in England and Wales was given a rateable value based on how much the property could be let for. Which, clearly, isn't very scientific. What can you do? As Citizens Advice advises, ask your supplier, which is likely to be Southern Water, whether they can put you on a cheaper tariff in lieu of a meter. It is sometimes suggested that households ask for an "assessed charge", though Southern Water bases its assessed charges on the number of bedrooms unless you're a single occupier - so this may not help in your case. Helpfully, Southern does run through charges for metered, rateable value and assessed charge homes here - so you could get your calculator out and work out which option is best for you. What else could you do? Water companies are obliged to help customers struggling with their bills and may operate social tariffs. I've looked on your behalf and found Southern offers additional help if: Your household income is low; Everyone in your home gets a means-tested benefit; You've got three or more children under 19 living at home; Someone living with you needs more water because of a medical condition; You haven't made a payment to us for a while. Finally, many water companies also offer free water-saving devices like shower heads - and though Southern isn't part of this scheme, it's worth talking to the company about any help it can offer. Every Tuesday, we get an expert to answer your financial problems or consumer disputes. This feature is not intended as financial advice - the aim is to give an overview of the things you should think about.
