Leak water bill cancelled

By Melissa Donchi
A WESBURN pensioner has been granted a reprieve from Yarra Valley Water (YVW) after he was left with a bill for almost $800 for water he didn’t use.
The bill from YVW claimed Noel Wynd used a shocking 6,837 litres per day, an amount far beyond his means of living.
Last month Mr Wynd’s water supply was interrupted when he noticed water coming from the ground just outside his house.
On 5 March Mr Wynd’s neighbours, concerned that he didn’t have any water, reported that the pensioner’s water pipe was leaking.
Mr Wynd’s last water bill from 11 September 2006 to 21 December 2006 shows he used an average of just 10 litres per day bringing his bill to a meagre $21.58.
However, the recent invoice from YVW demanded a payment for $777.23 for the period of 21 December 2006 to 23 March 2007.
YVW has now cancelled that bill.
On 5 April, after the Mail began an investigation, YVW released a statement saying Mr Wynd’s water loss was due to a burst pipe on his property and so the company wasn’t liable.
“An internal leak in a customer’s plumbing was also identified at number 3 Station Road and a card put in the letterbox to inform the customer that they would need to engage a plumber to repair the leak,” YVWs general asset manager services Sam Austin stated.
“We recently made a follow up visit to number 3 Station Street to check if the internal leak had been repaired by the customer, and upon discovering that it had not been fixed, stopped the leak ourselves to save further lost water,” Mr Austin said.
The recent visit was one month after the leak was reported causing the pensioner to be charged hundreds of dollars he simply doesn’t have.
While YVW said it is working around the clock to help prevent large water loss and to minimise inconvenience to customers, Eastern Region Victoria MP Edward O’Donohue said this is not the case.
“We have been told over and over again that water is our precious resource,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“While YVW were arguing over whether the leak was internal or external thousands of litres of water were wasted.”
Mr O’Donohue said it was clear Mr Wynd was in no state to contract a plumber let alone call a plumber.
“He lives in a shed, he doesn’t own a phone and until recently he only used a few litres of water a day,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“I hope this case will cause YVW to re-examine their procedures to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again.”