Regina citizens’ water bills climb after smart water meter upgrade

As the cost of living continues to rise, another bill is going up for some people in Regina.

People are seeing an increase in their water bills after the City of Regina began its Water Meter Upgrade Project in October, 2022.

Alisha Gilchrist said she lives in her home alone, but the charges on her water bill don’t match that.

“I’m being told I’m using 300 litres a day, and I can guarantee you I’m not,” she said. “It’s a little frustrating.”

She was optimistic about the new meter at first, but after two months her bill began to climb.

“The first two months my water bill dropped significantly,” she said. “Then after those first two months, it kept climbing. I was a little concerned and started watching my water bill a little bit more.”

She acknowledges that waste charges were added to utility bills but things still aren’t adding up.

“That only accounts for like $27,” Gilchrist said. “It doesn’t account for the rest of it and it doesn’t make sense to me why I’m being charged so much. This month my bill is $157.09 and I don’t get it.”

She said her bill was normally around $89 to $100.

Gilchrist said her water usage hasn’t changed and she hasn’t found any leaks.

She doesn’t know what to do next, but she knows she’s not alone.

“I’ve been hearing other people online having the same issue,” she said. “I’m not sure what to do at this point.”

There’s a Facebook group called ‘Regina Water Meter Accuracy Alliance,’ with nearly 400 members in it. The group hopes to rally people together to get answers from the city about their “inconsistent water meter readings and unexplained charges.”

Bill Edwards and his wife are facing similar problems.

“It seems like since this new water meter went in, it’s showing we’re using a whole bunch more consumption,” Edwards said.

“It just doesn’t seem to be making sense to me why we would five litres every hour of every day, even when nobody is home.”

Bill Edwards has had his smart water meter since May of this year. (Bill Edwards/submitted)

He said he’s followed all the steps provided by the City of Regina website. He did things like check for leaks and call for an inspection.

Edwards disagrees with the $87.50 charge by the city if it comes to look at his meter but finds no problem.

“I’m very surprised and unhappy that the city wants to charge people to check out their equipment,” he said.

The city ensures the meters are accurate

Tanya Mills, the director of assessment and property revenue services at the City of Regina, said the meters are extremely accurate.

“They’re more accurate than our previous meters,” she said. “The reason they’re accurate is they measure use by measuring sound waves, and they don’t measure any consumption unless water is actually flowing through the pipe.”

Mills said there are a number of reasons why people might be seeing an increase in their water bill.

“The most common reason for an increase is related to seasonal watering and consumption,” she said.

“Another reason that customers might be seeing an increase is the utility rates were increased at the start of 2024. Waste charges were also added to our waste and utility bills at that time. For some customers, that charge was about $20 and it may have gone unnoticed before.”

She said the new meters are able to detect leaks, high use and unplanned use through the new eWater customer service tool.

It allows customers to set up alerts when these events occur.

For anyone with concerns about their water bill or new water meter, Mills encourages people to reach out to the city.

“We can certainly walk customers through their bills at any time if they want to contact us,” she said. “We can help them register for eWater or walk them through their consumption to look for leaks or high consumption at their property.”

The city can also walk customers through how to do their own check of the water meter.

Before having a city employee come out, Mills advises people to go through the leak detection process first. If a city employee does check your meter, it might come at a cost.

“There’s a fee of $87.50,” she said. “That fee is only charged if the meter is found to be accurate. If there is a fault in a meter, we don’t charge a customer for a test.”

The project is 81 per cent complete and over 61,000 meters have been installed.