Couple shocked by ‘impossible’ $1,147 water bill that was more than seven times their norm – and they weren’t even home
When they got their water bill, a couple who had to leave their house due to consecutive hurricanes claim they were taken aback.
When they allegedly accrued the astronomical expenses, Melanie and Richard Scheiderman weren’t even residing in their home.
At the St. Petersburg, Florida, property they rent, the couple usually pays about $150.
They suspected something had gone awry when they found a bill for $1,147, which was more than seven times their usual amount.
The city on Florida’s west coast experienced a brief water outage earlier this year when Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the Sunshine State.
The couple thinks that a leak occurred at her house as a result of the high pressure when the water was turned back on.
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Melanie went to her landlord after calling the city for assistance and not receiving a response.
“He came out and he couldn’t see,” she said to WFLA, the local TV station.
The landlord phoned a leak detection expert when the water began to run after he switched it on.
At that moment, the couple’s bathroom was discovered to have a slow leak.
“It’s likely that it was a slow leak that should’ve been caught if they were properly reading the meters, and if it wasn’t caused by the city’s shut-off and shut-on, then we should’ve seen it,” she stated.
Requests for response from The U.S. Sun were not immediately answered by the City of St. Petersburg.
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Earlier, a city official issued a statement refuting the Scheidermans’ allegations.
The city started to “slowly restore pressure” after just nine hours, according to the spokeswoman, even though the drinking water system did experience pressure loss for “approximately 12 hours overnight” between October 9 and October 10.
They went on to say that the Scheidermans’ pipes couldn’t have leaked due to a drop in system pressure.
According to the representative, the drinking water system was purposefully depressurized gradually to avoid a pressure spike that might have caused plumbing damage.
The couple’s hefty bill, they argued, was really caused by a meter reading made on November 19, weeks after the state was struck by two consecutive hurricanes.
According to the representative, it was more likely that the couple’s property had a plumbing problem unrelated to the disasters.
ST. PETERSBURG CITY STATEMENT
A City of St. Petersburg representative released the following statement in response to reports that a couple had been charged more than seven times their usual water bill:
“In less than a day, the drinking water system was unavailable for 12 hours.
Over the course of the night of October 9–10, 2024, the drinking water system had a 12-hour pressure drop.
“The City started to gradually restore pressure within nine hours after the initial pressure reduction.
“The customer’s plumbing could not have leaked as a result of the system pressure dropping.
In order to prevent a pressure spike (high pressure) that would affect the customer’s plumbing, the system was purposefully repressurized gradually.
“Regardless of when it occurred—before, during, or after one of the storms—we are taking all the above standard steps to help consumers who received a higher-than-expected electricity bill.
In this instance, a meter reading recorded on November 19, long after hurricanes Debby, Helene, and Milton, was the cause of the customer’s most recent high charge.
This suggests to us that they probably have a plumbing problem on their private property, which the leak correction procedure could be able to fix.
“They should call 727-893-7341, Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm, for assistance.”
One of Florida’s hardest-hit areas during this year’s hurricanes was St. Petersburg, which is near Tampa.
The city’s public infrastructure, including Tropicana Field, the home field of the Major League Baseball Tampa Bay Rays, sustained damage estimated at $75 million as a result of Hurricane Milton alone.
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In just six hours, more than 20 inches of rain fell in certain areas of the city, more than three times the previous record.
With $3.5 million set aside to rehabilitate St. Petersburg’s waterfront infrastructure, the city’s pier’s seawall was also severely damaged.
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