Local

Change to Mt. Holly’s water meters causes higher bills for residents

Mount Holly, N.C. — People in Mt. Holly are faced with higher water bills caused by a water meter upgrade that was supposed to be simpler and save the city money.

Compatibility issues within the hardware, along with a glitch in the digital system, shocked 6,000 residents with water bills almost triple the normal cost.

For many living in Mt. Holly, before this summer, water cost was a passing thought. Since the upgrade and spike in prices, people like Sue Fletcher are feeling nervous even washing the dishes.

“It was unbelievable, $452.29,” Fletcher said, “It was a shock, I almost had a heart attack.”

Over 500 people across the city have reported water bills higher than they expected. This happened after the city spent last year installing new water meters. Mt. Holly City Manager Miles Braswell said the new meter system worked well for most customers. But there was a glitch in how the data was processed with different-sized water lines.

“It’s a whole lot more accurate than our old meter system,” Braswell said, “We are actually going through and touching every single meter in the city over the next month to make sure the problem is solved.”

Braswell told us people like Sue Fletcher will get a price adjustment to cover the overbilling and that the digital problem is fixed.

(WATCH BELOW: Marshville neighbors question big spike in water bills)