SALT LICK, Ky. (LEX 18) — Andrea Justice has been living at this home in Salt Lick for nearly 10 years — she lives with her son. In March, her water bill was around $35. Then, from April to June, it increased first to more than $300, then more than $900.
She says, "They stated that they sent me a notice for a leak flag. You know, I get those daily digests that come through my email that tell me what I’m going to get, and I looked through every single one and never got a leak flag email or a leak flag parcel mail."
From April to May, her statement says she used 28,000 gallons of water, and from May to June, 83,000 gallons. Andrea says she reached out to the Bath County Water District to see why her bill had gone up. She says they suggested that it may be because of the pool water. Justice lives with several medical conditions that she says keep her away from home, she also notes that she hasn't used her pool since 2019.
She says, "That would flood the entire neighborhood. I mean, that's multiple pools. It's only 17,000 gallons to fill that pool that I have, and 83,000 gallons is what they say we used."
Justice says that when a tech came out, the meter wasn't running and there was no leak. Yesterday, she says her son got a disconnection notice, and today, techs came out and shut the water off. She was told she owed the full amount and past due fees of $1,004.80, in addition to other charges. She believes something was wrong with her analog meter — which was replaced with a digital meter in June.
LEX 18 reached out to the Bath County Water District and was able to speak with one of its co-managers, Mark Crouch, who preferred not to be on camera.
He says, "There's no way to tell... All I know is the water went through the meter, the meter is tested good, the profiler shows that the water was tested good, and it shows when it went up, and it shows when it comes down."
Crouch says the meter was tested, twice. Mark says that meters are tested every 10 years, and they are read remotely and physically checked when they have spare time — to be checked for leaks.
"I did give her the public service commissions number the day that she came in because they govern us, and I told her if they find something wrong, we'll have to fix it — but as of right now, I can’t see anything."
Now, Justice wants definitive answers from Bath County Water about what caused her bill to run so high. She wants others in the area to keep a close eye on their own bills.
"Who wants to pay a $1,000 water bill? I would have rathered there be a leak and something to fix — so I knew — it wasn't my fault, it was on my side, and I would have gladly accepted that. But it wasn't — it's on the water side, it's on the water district's side and it needs fixed,” says Justice.
