Tests Show Water Bill Increase In Bixby Likely Due To Personal Usage

After some Bixby residents saw their water bill skyrocket by hundreds of dollars this summer, people wanted answers from the City.

The City looked at a number of factors, even sending some water meters out of state to be tested. Results are starting to come in, but, so far those answers indicate the high bills are likely caused by personal usage.

People in Bixby couldn't believe their water bills could go so high, so fast - so they brought their complaints to the City.

9/2/2016 Related Story: City Of Bixby Announces Plans To Address Soaring Water Bills

Richie Stewart is councilman of the 4th ward, representing many of the people who saw their bills spike.

"They took those very seriously and researched every one of them thoroughly," he said. "This is a small sampling of the meters, of the usage, and we're going to be continuing the study as well."

The investigation checked many things - like the water pressure, which never exceeded pressure put on in the past.

Workers sent water meters for testing and all were found to have accuracy within 1.5 percent; gas pumps have a two to three percent accuracy.

The City also checked its billing software, and results show all numbers were 100 percent accurate.

City manager Jared Cottle said, "Through testing, through our auditing process, all show that everything is functionally normally."

Some new water meters showed hour by hour usage. Cottle pointed out one home's usage spiked to 6,500 gallons of water in just four hours, with no leaks detected.

"When we see it in the early morning and later in the evening hours, not during the middle of the day, we would typically associate that with irrigation,” he said.

The City is going to test an additional 100 meters. It said it will investigate and compensate any people in Bixby if a city leak is causing their bill to climb.

If you live there, the City still wants to discuss and get ideas on ways to lower the bills in the future.

You can find more information here.