Dozens of people brought their water bills to a neighborhood meeting Tuesday in Garland, asking the city to explain how the bills could be so high.
"It's a huge spike," said Andrea Sessions, of Garland. "I jumped from 7,000 to 31,000 gallons supposedly in a two-person household and we only ran the sprinklers half a month once a day."
"This is the most astounding part of it," said Brent Zotz, of Garland. "My gallons used for 30 days was 19,400, which is giving me 6,400 gallons a day, and I added it up and that puts me, and wife and my kids showering like eight times in one day."
Members of the city hall staff spoke at the meeting, which was organized by the Ridgecrest English Estates Neighborhood Association.
After years of water restrictions, which have now been lifted, the city says residents are simply using more water than before.
"They may not realize how much they're doing it but they are. It is typical to have high usage this time of year," said Garland City Spokesperson Dorothy White.
"We have not found any meter malfunctions, we have not found that any of the meters have been misread," added White.
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But many have their doubts.
"I don't have a leak, so there is something that's happening. If I don't change my habits, there's no reason for the usage to increase up," said Mildred Garcia, of Garland.
The city is encouraging anyone with questions about their bill to contact the utility department to have it reviewed.
