Bail out from high water bills caused by frozen, leaky pipes

Updated Mar 1, 2011, 4:20 pm

Dylan Smith
TucsonSentinel.com

ÅdneD/Flickr

For those whose pipes leaked after freezing weather last month, a high water bill after paying for a plumber may leave them feeling a bit up the creek.

If your pipes were damaged and your bill's higher than normal, Tucson Water will bail you out.

Rather than have their wallets tapped, customers can have their bills reduced to normal levels by contacting the utility.

Those wishing to have their bill adjusted should email waterleaks@tucsonaz.gov, said spokesman Fernando Molina. Provide your name, billing address, account number and contact information in the request, Molina said.

Customers may also call 791-3242, but email is encouraged because of the volume of requests being made, he said.

Tucson Water estimates that thousands of customers are eligible to have their bills adjusted to last year's level.

"During the recent freeze period, thousands of Tucson Water customers struggled to obtain water service," said Andrew Quigley, interim director of the city-owned utility.

"These customers suffered from a variety of issues directly related to the unseasonable cold weather from frozen private water lines. As much of this frozen infrastructure thawed, water flowed uncontrollably," Quigley said in a memo to the City Council.

Bills will only be adjusted on request, not automatically, Quigley said.

Bills which include Feb. 3 or Feb. 4, when temperatures fell well below freezing, are eligible to be lowered, he said.

Tucson Water won't pay for your plumber's bill, though—just adjust what you owe for water.

New customers, who don't have a year-old bill, will have a standard estimate of water use applied to their bill if they request an adjustment, Quigley said.

Quigley put the extra water use in the tens of millions of gallons.