Water bill relief comes as 'cold comfort' for ratepayer's 'stress'

But Anthony O'Neill said the protracted matter with Goulburn Mulwaree Council had been stressful.

"It's about time commonsense prevailed," Anthony said after the council's Tuesday, May 21 meeting.

Anthony received the bill in February, claiming a 3.6 million litre water usage across the previous quarter, or 35,028 litres daily. He said this was physically impossible as he lived by himself and used minimal water. Anthony told The Post that he had fixed a water leak at his residence last October, which created a soggy patch. He said if 3.6 million litres leaked, "his house would be out on the street."

Councillors unanimously decided on Tuesday to average his last four water readings, excluding the 3.6 million litres, and add 10 per cent for any possible undetected leak. It will equate to a $120 bill for the quarter.

"They add on 10 per cent but what about all my anxiety and stress and the hours wasted on sending countless emails. Does that count for anything?" Anthony said.

He attended the meeting with his father, Neil, who thanked councillors for the decision.

"Everything went our way," Neil said on Wednesday.

"It was stupid that the bill was sent in the first place. A $15,645 water bill is absolutely ridiculous. The only thing I (now) object to is the 10pc extra after all the stress we've been through."

Staff recommended against any reduction. A report stated that the claim didn't meet the undetected leaks policy requirements.

"...There was a leaking appliance and there were no further undetected leaks identified or repaired. Therefore they were not eligible for a 50pc reduction in their water usage," it stated.

Staff referred to the October leak, which Anthony repaired on about October 21, 2023. The meter was read on October 17. On January 29, when the high reading was detected, staff rechecked and confirmed it, the report stated.

"The owner contacted the council to discuss the usage and advised they had a problem during this time with their toilet and needed to replace the inlet valve...but did not experience any other issues at their property that would cause this excessive water use," staff said.

A leaking toilet could lose up to 1.69 million litres over the quarter, they estimated. This would be discharged directly to the sewer.

However Anthony said on Wednesday that he detected and repaired the leaking toilet after he received the February bill. He believed it had been leaking for one month.

"It's impossible for it to lose that amount of water. I repaired it and there was no leak after that," he said.

Staff said it was open to councillors to average the last four bills, before the January invoice.

Deputy mayor Steve Ruddell moved this way.

He said the January reading represented "a hell of a lot of water."

"We're still not 100 per cent sure where it went," he said.

"...I know council staff have looked into the issue and tried to address them. It's taken time to get to the table and that's probably caused angst to the property owner.

"We are missing a swimming pool full of water somewhere. This is the fairest outcome for the council and most importantly, the ratepayer."

Cr Prevedello agreed, saying without knowing what had happened, "the ratepayer should be given the benefit of the doubt."