Mission Springs Water District Addresses Broken Water Meter Concerns

A community is Desert Hot Springs claims its water meters aren’t working and their bills seems to be going up? Could there be a correlation? Mission Springs Water District says it is not. In fact, they claim, they are giving customers additional discounts for the malfunctions, but Elodia Redfern, a caregiver for a Mission Springs Water District customer, says it’s still not fair. "It seems dishonest. It seems very dishonest. What are you trying to hide," she told NBC Palm Springs. She adds that when she noticed her patient’s water bill was going up, she called someone to see if there was a leak, but there was not anything wrong." "The gentleman says, no there’s no leak. So he walked over to my meter and he says, your meter isn’t working." She then called up the Mission Springs Water District and claims its response was bogus. "She (employee) said well there is a defect in a lot of the meters, and so when we get to it, we’ll get to it." NBC Palm Springs talked to a representative of the Mission Springs Water District, who assured us this specific meter had just been fixed. So, we decided to check it out for ourselves and, sure enough, it had a battery and was functioning properly. However, when we got to the neighbor’s house to check out their meter, it was off. John Soulliere, a representative from the Mission Springs Water District says they are aware of the problems and are working to fix them. "Everyone who had or is having a problem has been notified through their water bill," Soulliere added. In other words, those accounts have already been flagged and it’s only a matter of time before each meter gets fixed. But, how will customers get compensated for this failure? "We have an estimating system that goes back, and if a register fails…in this case that was the case…we go back and check it. And we estimate it going back to 12 months use. We deduct an additional 3% so that it lands in the customer’s favor, and even at that point, if the customer feels like it’s unfair, we’ll work with them even further," Soulliere told NBC Palm Springs. So, if you notice your water bill going up in the coming months, firstly check for leaks, monitor irrigation systems, and keep in mind that it’s getting warmer, so you may just be using more water.