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Post by Admin on Apr 21, 2006 11:17:46 GMT
Who is to blame for the water shortage?.. us for using too much? global warming for heating us up too much? the water companies for nor mending broken pipes?
views and comments please..
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Post by reg on Apr 21, 2006 11:59:35 GMT
Billed for leaks ignored by water firm Apr 21 2006 SO MUCH water has been gushing out of one businessman's leaky pipes that his bill has rocketed by nearly £1,700.
And another man is refusing to pay his latest bill of £230 when it has been about £30 in the past.
Over the past four years the water bill for Alex Falk's photographic business, Mr Cad, has seen a five-fold increase to £2,045.70
But he says that pipes outside his shop in Windmill Road, Broad Green, have been spilling water for at least 15 months.
Mr Falk is "astonished" that Thames Water has not come to fix the fault - especially given that the region has a hosepipe ban in place.
He said: "The spiralling charges simply did not reflect that our water usage is minimal.
"We were informed by Thames Water to do a meter check, whereby we turn off the water for a period and do a before and after reading.
"However, it proved impossible because when we went to check the meter outside our building, it was found to be flooded with water."
He immediately informed Thames Water - and expected workmen to be sent straight round.
That was in January last year - and he is still waiting.
He said: "In light of the current water shortage, it is unbelievable that Thames Water should not be treating this matter with more urgency and ensuring that this leak is fixed without any further delay.
"Our water bill is continuing to rise through no fault of our own. It is now an intolerable situation."
Mr Falk's water charges have leapt from £373.39 between June 2001 and May 2002 to £2,045.70 between June 2005 and February.
This is despite him calling the water firm 10 times to complain.
He added: "As we have been charged for water we have not used, we expect a refund to reflect the exorbitant charges we have been incurring for the past few years."
While Mr Falk has paid up, another customer has not been so tolerant.
Householder Kevin Gurney, of Osward, Forestdale, has been threatened with court action for not paying his latest bill. The self-employed upholsterer is refusing to pay for water leaking from pipes linked to his home, which he reported in July.
He had discovered the leak after being left baffled by a six-month bill for £64 - 60 per cent above normal. Mr Gurney did pay that bill - but again no one came to fix the pipe and his next six-month bill, up to January, soared to £230.
Having complained by phone eight times and once by letter he is steadfastly refusing to pay - and he has now been told that he will end up in court if he does not pay up.
"With all this water shortage, it makes you wonder how much of a panic they are really in," he said.
A Thames Water spokesman this week promised to investigate both complaints. "We will send someone down as soon as we can to inspect the meters and pipework and we will readjust the bills if necessary.
"They had been in touch and we will look to see if there are any leaks. We will be in touch shortly."
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