After three years of grappling with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, some Pittsburghers are fed up and heading to court.
The class-action lawsuit, filed May 18 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Millvale property owner Susan Newman and "anyone who is a rate payer or biller," credits PWSA for eleven complaints, including breach of contract, common law fraud and civil conspiracy.
In June 2012, PWSA installed upgrades to its water meter interface units (MIUs), which electronically transmit information to the authority about the meter, including water usage.
John P. Corcoran Jr., attorney for the plaintiffs and partner with the law firm Jones, Gregg, Creehan, and Gerace, LLP, said that after these upgrades, customers received “grossly inaccurate” bills.
“Residents are receiving water bills then at an estimated basis, so basically they get an estimated bill, and then they have to pay that, but that’s not their actual water usage, and some of them have been extremely high,” he said.
Some of these high estimates include a bill for a vacant property that supposedly used 132,000 gallons in a month, according to Corcoran.
“People are paying the bills even though that’s not the actual water usage because, you know, they need water,” Corcoran said. “Especially folks who are at a lower income or a fixed income. You receive a bill that’s increased 200-300 percent for one month and that can really throw your entire budget off.”
When customers contacted PWSA, many complaints took months to resolve or were never resolved at all, Corcoran said. They felt the next step should be this lawsuit.
“We can bring this to a head, and get some resolution not only for the past errors but also future, that there will be some sort of system that will be in place,” Corcoran said.
When asked to respond, a PWSA spokesperson said the authority does not comment on legal matters. PWSA provides water services to about 300,000 residents in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas. It is currently working to replace outdated meters to be compatible with their new technologies for reading water usage. Officials also extended customer service hours to better serve those having issues.
The Community Campaign to Reform PWSA is holding a public forum for those interested on Thursday, July 23 at 7 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hilton in Green Tree to give more information on how to get involved with the lawsuit.
Those who have questions or concerns about their bill can contact the authority on its website.
