Water?!



 In NJ, my water and sewer bill comes quarterly and it comes from the township.  I get this tiny postcard sized piece of mail (easily lost by the post office) and I write a check and send it back.  In PA, we get our water from a company called Aqua.  We use them because that's who there is and it's who the previous owners used.  I don't even know if you have a choice when it comes to water carriers.  (Is anyone out there experienced in this?)

Back when we were purchasing the house, I called Aqua so that the account info could be changed/updated.  Imagine my surprise when they said there was no account at my address!  There was water and I don't think the previous owners were lying...So I went to the previous owners and they gave me their account number.  Turns out there was an account, they just didn't have the specific address; they just had the street!  So I own the whole street and am paying for all the water?  I don't think so!  Anyway, I got the information updated and set up on line billing.

Once we moved in, if I recall correctly, someone came by from the company.  The bills were reasonable, except for one in November of 2024, which I thought was high.  But then they settled back down to a very reasonable amount and all seemed well.  

At one point the company called to set up an appointment for a tech to come look at the meter.  If the person came, we never knew.  No one ever knocked on the door or anything.  And Aqua never followed up. I had to assume that the work was done, perhaps when we were not home.

Of course, this was all back when we first purchased the house in 2024.  Here were are in 2026.  Every month I have been paying pretty much the same amount because it's what they've been telling me to pay.  Why would I question that?  Then on Tuesday (while I am in the Newark office) I get a call from a number that I don't know.  I do a reverse look up and get nothing.  There is however a voicemail.  

The man who left the message says he works for Aqua and that I haven't been using water for 2 years and he thinks there is a problem with the meter.  Now, with all the scams going on, I'm not going to call this number back.  It's not associated with the company and I'm wary.

This morning, since I am in PA, I go on line and look up Aqua, figuring I'll call and find out if this is a scam or not.  However, before I do so, my husband says there's a white pick-up in our drive way. 


We go look and there's nothing there.  Then our entry camera shows a pick-up truck in front of the house.

  But when I go look there's nothing there.  WTF?  Finally, we see that there IS a pick-up truck in between the house and garage (which is in a space that is not covered by the camera).  We go out to the pick-up, which does say Aqua on it.

The guy in the truck says he's left me a message (okay, so he is legit) and is here to check the meter.  I ask to see his ID (just to be double sure).  We all walk over to the meter on the outside of the house.  Guess what?  It's NOT wired properly!  Now it must have been wired properly at one point, but obviously something has gone wrong.

The guy says he can't do this on his own (this requires going into a crawl space), he will get a hold another technician to help with (or do) the work.  He will call when this is set up.  He's thinking that we've been incorrectly billed for 17 MONTHS!!!!  

Why didn't someone recognize this before?  Why didn't anyone follow up?

But wait it gets better...if we can't come up and talked to the guy, he was just going to leave a shut off notification taped to our garage.  He wasn't going to knock on the door and find out if we were home, he was just going to let us know that we had 10 days to respond or our water would be shut off!!

So to recap:  Aqua has been supplying this house with water since...well at least since 2017 (because the previous owners used them) and didn't have the proper address.  I rectify that and set up an account.  They come out for service after we move in.  Then SUPPOSEDLY someone comes out to check/update the meter and we don't know if that person came or not and if they did, they didn't do correctly.  For over a year, I have been paying Aqua what they have been asking and all a sudden they realize that something is wrong.  And they don't have someone IN THE OFFICE (with a corporate number) call; they have "some guy" call and then when he randomly shows up (thank GOD we were here) he wasn't even going to check to see if we were home, he was just going to check the meter and leave a shut off notice.  WTF?  

Aqua, I have been paying you promptly every month.  If you notice that something is off with my water, you need to have an identifiable number call me so that I KNOW that it your company.  You need to communicate with me via phone, email or mail so I KNOW that it is legitimate.  And you need your employees (or subcontractors) to actually KNOCK ON THE DOOR when they come by and not just pull into my driveway and poke around.  (That's how people get shot).

I know I am going to get hit with a big bill.  I am not happy about that.  And I am definitely not happy with the quality of service that I am receiving from Aqua. Aqua, what are you going to do?  You need to do something because this is NOT acceptable.  So Aqua, once again the ball is in your court, what are you going to do?


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