Retiree's Water Bill Jumps to $1,500 in a Month

Ossie Warner lives alone and hasn’t filled her swimming pool. So how can her water bill have jumped from less than $200 a month to $1,500?

After DeKalb County’s water department was contacted about the huge jump in the grandmother’s bill, officials suggested she check for a leak. A plumber inspected her pipes and found no problems.

The 75-year-old grandmother has lived on Preakness Drive for 40 years, and was alarmed when her most recent water bill was 15 times past the amount of past bills, which ranged from $80 to $175. The retiree is on a fixed income. 

"I didn't understand what was going on and it never happened before," she told WSB TV. "I knew something was wrong," Warner said.

"It doesn't make sense for her bill to be that high if she does not have a leak in the yard or anything," her son, Alvin Majette, told the TV station. 

Warner's son took the plumber's findings to the county, which has agreed to install a new water meter.

But, so far, she is still responsible for the outsized bill.