PRICEY WATER BILL: Rock Hill woman awaits answer about $6,000 water bill

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Larnice Durham felt her heart leap into her throat when she opened her water bill last week.

The total was $5,990.57.

"I thought, ‘What in the world? Am I paying for the whole neighborhood?" Durham said.

Durham said she was horrified, and right now, the city of Rock Hill isn't sure what to make of the bill.

She has lived in her home on Pine Terrace Drive for more than 20 years, and she only shares the home with her husband.

Durham showed Channel 9 bills going back a year.

Suddenly, they went from using 4,000 to 5,000 gallons to more than 50,000 gallons.

Durham said she went straight to City Hall and spoke to someone in billing there.

"When she looked at the bill, she said the same thing,” Durham said. “She said, ‘I'd have had a heart attack if I received a bill like that.”

Dolores Campbell, who lives across the street from Durham, said she and other neighbors pay on average between $250 and $300 a month for water, sewer and power.

Campbell had a water leak once and had to pay $2,000 for her bill, but a leaky toilet was the culprit.

"Something's broke somewhere. Ya know, it has to be," Campbell said.

The city and a plumber have checked the crawlspace and walked the yard.

The city also took her meter for testing and replaced it with a new one Thursday.

The city of Rock Hill sent Channel 9 this statement about the issue:

"While legally we can't discuss a customer utility bill with anyone except the person listed on the account, we can share that billing staff have been working diligently with the customer over the last two weeks to investigate this issue. Typically, cases with abnormally high water consumption are a result of a water leak, however we've not seen an indication of that yet at this property.

“Our process has included a re-read of the meter, leak checks on both the city side and customer side and finally meter removal for testing and replaced with a new one.

“We’ve been in regular contact with the customer to provide information about our process and findings. We’ll continue to work with the customer to resolve the issue and very much appreciate the patience and understanding Ms. Durham has shown staff throughout the process."

Durham was told to pay $440 so her account would not be considered delinquent.

However, she doesn't know what will happen next, whether she will owe the entire balance or if something will be worked out.

"I'm just waiting patiently every day. It's nerve-wracking," she said.

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:

Cox Media Group