The Town of Drumheller is working to unclog their utility system of those who are receiving water illegally.
At the last meeting of the Drumheller Town Council on December 17, Councillor Jay Garbutt inquired if and how many households are currently receiving Drumheller water without paying.
“I’ve heard stories about different, creative, and yet illegal ways people have tried to cheat the water system. I don’t know if it’s true, but I haven’t heard those stories just once,” said Garbutt. “I don’t believe this is a large number of people. Every system should check itself to make sure loop holes are closed and it’s fair to everyone.”
Town staff are currently reviewing their utility records and will be taking steps to find those cheating the system.
“We’re matching the utilities to the taxes. If there is nothing on a piece of property we know there shouldn’t be any utility usage. We’re going to be more proactive going into homes with sealing meters, recording the date and time, serial number, and reading,” said Allan Kendrick, Director of Infrastructure Services for the Town of Drumheller.
Over the years, Kendrick has seen quite a few ways some residents try to steal water.
“There are a number of ways some people try to cheat their utilities and it’s all utilities. This is nothing new. We had a guy who was out reading a meter and the head of the meter was sitting on the windowsill. We asked the guy why it was off and he said he took it off every time he washed his truck,” said Kendrick.
Other ways include crimping the water line, installing an illegal connection in front of the meter, turning the meter around, or placing magnets on them (which doesn’t work in the vast majority of water meters).
With newer water meters, staff can easily find any anomalies in water usage, especially with the newest meters the Town will be installing over the next few years.
“As we do the meter [replacement] program, we catch a whole bunch of these. The new meters have the ability to save logs, so we know if someone has tampered with their meter. We should catch a lot more of these as we go on,” said Kendrick.
Bylaw 12-08, the Water and Sewer System Bylaw, prohibits any tampering with water meters. The penalty is for the water to be shut off and not turned on again until the tampering has been corrected and any outstanding bills paid.
The Town will be pursuing the issue.
“If we have the technology that can pinpoint any residences or business receiving the utility, but don’t have a utility account, why wouldn’t we use it?” said Garbutt. “It’s about making sure people can feel confident the system is being fair to everybody. If there is someone circumventing the system, it erodes that confidence.”