Glendale man disputes utility’s claim that he used 1.5 million gallons in two months.
By Zain Shauk
NORTHEAST GLENDALE — When Escott Norton spotted inspectors examining his home’s water meter, he thought they were as doubtful as he was that he had used 1.5 million gallons in one two-month billing cycle.
That was before he got a bill for $5,474.71 worth of water, far surpassing his previous high of $120.05.
“Everyone thought it was ridiculous except for the people at [Glendale Water & Power],” Norton said.
Although the utility was admittedly puzzled by the reading and lack of leaks or massive amounts of runoff, officials believe the meter was right, said Glenn Steiger, general manager of Glendale Water & Power.
“There’s no question it’s extraordinary, and that’s why we took extraordinary measures to make sure that there wasn’t something else going on,” Steiger said.
Norton, a home designer, recently moved into the Buckingham Road house after building it himself, with help from electricians and other laborers. He closely monitored the property throughout the two-year process, during which he paid water bills and often spent 14 hours a day at the site, he said.
Although he and others initially suspected a leak could have caused the problem, none has been found, and his water bills have since plummeted back to levels that resemble his neighborhood’s usage, according to a graph generated by the utility’s website.
Inspectors appeared at Norton’s two-story, four-bedroom home multiple times after they discovered the high reading in June.
One visit brought eight workers from the utility, some wearing suits and others in hard hats, to examine the meter and property, Norton said.
They decided to remove the meter for further scrutiny, putting it through a series of tests, even resorting to some unconventional approaches involving vibration, to ensure the gauge wouldn’t have malfunctioned with the nearby operation of heavy machinery, Steiger said.
The utility also opted to pass the same amount of water through the device — 1.5 million gallons — and found that it measured the quantity accurately, he said.
“Honestly, after testing it as many ways as we know how, we found nothing wrong,” he said. “Zero.”
But Norton and others have scoffed at the idea that he, along with his wife and son, had actually pulled that much water through the meter.
The sheer quantity is enough to overflow a 3.5-foot-deep pool the size of a football field.
Glendale High School — where 3,000 students flush toilets, play sports on irrigated fields and shower in locker rooms each weekday — uses less water in a month, or about 1.2 million gallons, school district officials said.
Burbank’s 18-hole, 67-acre DeBell Golf Club could be completely irrigated for nearly four days with that total.
“This doesn’t really make sense,” Tom Maddock, a professor of hydrology at University of Arizona’s Department of Hydrology and Water Resources, said of Norton’s water bill.
That quantity of water could have moved through the meter, but an underground leak would have been more probable, and noticeable, Maddock said.
“There should have been a lot of tell-tale signs,” he said. “I mean, like wading in mud.”
Other signs, like puddles, would have also been apparent, and with that much water beneath the home, the concrete structure would have likely sunk into the ground, he said.
Norton argued the geology of his property, which was painstakingly carved into the side of a stone cliff during a process that involved three demolition excavators, would have made a leak noticeable.
“It would be bubbling up to the surface,” he said.
The utility did calculate that a hose on Norton’s property could have used exactly 1.5 million gallons of water if it was left on for 64 days — the period of the billing cycle in question — and that water could have spilled into a storm drain in front of his home, Steiger said.
But there is no storm drain visible in front of Norman’s home. The nearest one is around the corner of Buckingham Road and Chevy Chase Drive, Norman said.
Although there was concern that Norton stole the water, that feat would have required an outflow of 17 gallons per minute, or enough to fill six 4,000-gallon tankers daily, Norton said.
“I think my neighbors would have noticed,” he said.
While Norton’s water bill may seem unique, utilities often receive complaints about high readings that are often correct, said Bill Mace, assistant general manager of water at Burbank Water and Power.
“If the meter tests accurately, then something went through it,” Mace said.
A continuously running toilet, for example, can use about 1,400 gallons of water daily without leaving a trace of evidence, Mace said.
“It just goes right down the sewers,” said Mace, although he acknowledged that the usage rate was unusually high at Norton’s home, about 24,000 gallons daily.
Neither utility has any way of distinguishing how much water is sent to homes, measuring only how much gets pulled through a meter, officials said.
Glendale Water & Power is holding Norton responsible for the bill and has allowed him to pay it in $950 installments, three of which he has made so far.
Still, he disputes the total.
“It’s a matter of fairness,” he said. “Why should I pay for water I didn’t use?”
Times Community News
Gary Huerta
Hey, I know the toilet was an example of undetected water waste, but why would you pick an example that would only equal 89,600 gallons in 64 days when we’re talking about 1.5 million gallons! It accounts for only 6% of this mystery water. And that’s IF the toilet was the culprit.
There’s just no logic or sense to this.
Somebody ought to step up and investigate this from the city side. From my perspective, GWP saying, “the meter was right” just doesn’t add up. To think that the single family residence of Escott Norton used more water in 60 days than the average usage of Glendale High School during the same amount of time is ludicrous!
Are we actually going to let them say that with a straight face?
How long are we supposed to sit back and simply believe what a utility company tells us? Seems to me the only leak around here is baloney.
But I guess it’ll take numerous tests to determine where it’s actually coming from.
The article and Mr. Stieger’s quotes are too ridiculous NOT to respond to, so here goes:
1. I don’t buy that they took “extraordinary measures” or took “a series of tests”. They only sent me vague results from one test. If they have results from a series of test that prove their point, why not release them?
2. Steiger says “Honestly, after testing it as many ways as we know how, we found nothing wrong,” he said. “Zero.” The fact according to their own report is that the meter tested high, but still within the allowed level, so that is not really “Zero”. Was he just trying to brush off the press?
3. The HOSE! Right! First, there is not storm drain in front of my house. The water would have to flow down Buckingham, turn left of Chevy Chase, flow across Chevy Chase and back to the nearest Storm Drain, more than 800 feet. First, That’s a long hose. Second the hose would have to be running 24 hours a day for the entire 64 days, at 17 gallon per minute. My water pressure only allows between 2 and 6 gallons per minute depending on what is on. I think someone, at least one of the 10 inspectors who visited during the period, would have noticed!
4. The Running Toilet. I have 5 toilets, if they all were running 24 hours that would be only 7000 gallons, and again, if they were all running 24 hours a day for 64 day, many people besides myself would notice, and that still doesn’t account for the 24,000 gallons a day.
So, All of my toilets and a firehose stretched 800 feet down the street and running constantly for 2 months without being noticed. Seems like the only test the GWP didn’t use is the LOGIC test.
It all seems so preposterous to think that so much water could have been delivered to any house. Unbelievable. But even more unbelievable to think that for some reason on the 1st day after the meter was read, water to fill six 4,000 gallon tanker trucks was delivered, and then we have to suspend reason and believe it again for day two, and again for day three and so on for sixty days until the day before the meter is to be read the second time, when the unbelievable deliveries stop and the world goes back to normal again. So, rather than have to suspend all rational thought on sixty separate occasions timed exactly between the two meter readings, I find it more likely and reasonable to believe there was just one occasion where the unbelievable occurred and the 1.5 million gallons was delivered. That would mean 360 of the 4,000 gallon tanker trucks would have been filled on that one special day. Now, by Glendale ordinance, such work has to be done between 7:00 am and 7:00 p.m., so during that day each of the 360 tanker trucks would have to be driven up the hill, backed into place, loaded with 4,000 gal of water and driven back down in just two minutes to make way for the next truck. Since getting the truck in and out of the property would take well over a minute, is it possible for a two inch water pipe leading to a house to deliver enough water to fill a 4,000 gallon tanker truck in just a few seconds?
Oh, well, I guess any way you look at it you still have to suspend all reason. It is preposterous and unbelievable!
Today I presented my case to the GWP Commission. I laid out all of the facts and the commissioners seemed to listen in earnest. I pointed out how absurd the GWP position was, that since the meter numbers said I used the water, that I did, even though there are no witnesses or signs of the extreme water use, and in fact they can not explain where the water went!
Glenn Steiger, general manager of GWP did not respond to any specific points I made, he did say that a number of tests had been done, but that he was only required to show me the one test result. That is ridiculous. What about some “transparency” here? If the results prove their position why not send them to me? They don’t because they don’t have to? I think if they are charging me for water I say I did not use, and I am backed up by logic, numbers, and plenty of eyewitnesses, that the burden of proof is on THEM.
He also quietly said something to the commission about extenuating circumstances that he couldn’t talk about, or something to that effect. If it is about me, and affects me, I have the right to know what they are talking about. If they want to accuse me of thievery, they had better have some good facts to support their position, not just numbers on a meter.
It was suggested that I file a formal appeal to the GWP Commission, but after the hearing I found out that there is a time limit, and I might have exceeded it. At no time was I informed about the appeals process, if there is a process, that info should have been provided when my dispute was rejected. I was told that legally they did not have to inform me! So, if we have a dispute with our own City, a City paid for by us and supposedly there for us, I have to get legal counsel from the beginning? Ridiculous! No lawyer would touch an amount as small as this, so we end up losing and paying. Sounds a little like extortion to me.
I will be speaking at City Council tomorrow. The meeting starts at 6:00, who knows when Oral Communication will start, maybe 7:30? Anyone who feels this is unjust is welcome to stand with me at City Council, and is encouraged to write Mr. Stieger at the GWP to express you views. I appreciate the support!