BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) -
Sandra Pertillo may not be an expert at reading water meters, but she does know her bill isn't supposed to be close to $7,000.
"That just got me real upset. You know, I can't pay that there's no way," said Pertillo.
Another kicker? Pertillo has only lived at her Birmingham apartment complex for three weeks. She knew her water bill would have a roll over balance of about $80 but she wasn't expecting a bill of $6,629.
"When the guy came to actually tell me that something was going on he read my meter. He says, 'Well, your meter is spinning so fast out there it's almost about to come out of the ground,' and he said, 'The only thing I can do is turn off your water.' Well, I need my water so I didn't let him do that," said Pertillo.
After hearing that news Pertillo contacted her landlord at Impact Realty Advisors. Property Manager Robert Kelly said he didn't get the news about the high bill until Tuesday afternoon.
"Immediately you know you think, 'Ok, it's not coming out of her toilet. It's not coming out of the sink. This is something major, this is something in ground, something that eye just doesn't see,'" said Kelly.
With more than a decade of property experience Kelly said he's never seen a water bill this high. But he says necessary steps are being taken to correct it.
"We contacted American Leak Detection and they're going to come out and use the sonar to find the leak," said Kelly.
So what about the $6,000 bill?
"We find the leak, we make the necessary repairs we'll present the repair bill to the Birmingham Water Works and they will make an adjustment to her bill as to what she should pay," said Kelly.
Pertllo said the water works department gave her until August 12 to get this matter resolved.
FOX6 contacted a representative with Birmingham Water Works and she couldn't say if this is the first time there's been such an outrageous bill.
She also said if it was a problem on the department's end they would take care of it. If not the payment would have to be discussed with the property owner.
Copyright 2012 WBRC. All rights reserved.
Source: WBRC video
