Peoria couple battle utility over 250,000 gallons of water

Peggy and Jerry Larsen's water bill says they used 250,000 gallons of water in March, enough to fill 20 swimming pools, and the Sunrise Water Co. wants its money.
The Peoria couple aren't paying.
"Where is it? I mean, where did it go?" Peggy Larson said. "We're talking about an unbelievable amount of water but they can't tell me where it is."
The Larsens, who live north of 97th Avenue and Pinnacle Peak, called Sunrise Water to dispute the $724 bill as soon as it came. They have lived in the home for nine years, said Peggy Larsen, and they average about 12,000 gallons of water a month. Sunrise Water sent a manager to look over the property and check the meter. The conclusion did not please Larsen. In fact, it was alarming.
"They told me the meter was working correctly, and they had to go by what the meter said," Larsen said. "So I asked them where all that water went, and they told me, 'it's under the rocks in your yard.' I called a plumber out the very next day because I was scared of what damage that much water under my house might do."
The plumber came, inspected the property and found no evidence of any leaks in their system. Larsen even asked the plumber to write a letter to Sunrise Water attesting to that fact, which he did. She also contacted civil and environmental engineers for their opinions.
"They laughed when I told them what Sunrise was trying to say happened," Larsen said. "They told me 250,000 gallons of water, on my half-acre of property, would translate to 3 feet of standing water. Three feet. And Sunrise is trying to tell me that could happen without Jerry and I noticing?"
Marvin Collins, manager of Sunrise Water, said the utility cannot comment on any customer's billing information because of to privacy issues. He did say Sunrise Water is bound by the rules of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is why it can't do anything for the Larsens.
"Sunrise Water Co. is always willing to work with our customers to resolve any concerns they may have about the water service provided to their homes or businesses within the guidelines set forth in the Arizona Administration Code," Collins said.
For Peggy Larsen, the guideline in this case is common sense.
If there were no leaks, as the plumber said, then the water would have to be coming out of faucets or spigots, she said. "Five gallons of water per minute, every minute, for the entire month. That's what we're talking about," she said. "And we wouldn't notice that?"
After complaining again to Sunrise Water, the Larsens received a personal letter from JD Campbell, the owner of the company. Campbell offered to waive half of the bill if the Larsens would pay the other half.
"I wrote him back and I told him, in a very nice way, to shove it," Larsen said. "I'm not paying it. I'm not paying any of it. I'm going to let him shut my water off if he wants to keep pursuing this. Let him deal with the fallout from that."
Peggy Larsen is not the only resident in the neighborhood with issues.
Bob Stefanik, who lives a street south of the Larsens, dealt with the same thing one month earlier. Stefanik said there was a break in his line near his water meter, which Sunrise had to come out and fix. They dug up his yard, removed the meter, fixed the line and put the meter back in. When Stefanik's bill came for the month, it was three times higher than normal.
"They didn't flush the system before they put the new copper piping and the water meter back in, and I believe there was air in the lines," Stefanik said. "They said that could not have accounted for the bad reading, but even the manufacturer of the water meter says that's entirely possible."
He said Sunrise Water told him the same thing they told the Larsens.
"They said they have to go by what the meter is telling them, even though it went bad and when they tested it, it was proven to be bad," Stefanik said. "I paid the bill but I told them this isn't over."
The Larsens said they have several reasons to believe a faulty meter was to blame. For one, the meter at their home was designed to last 2.5 million gallons of water or 15 years. Theirs, she said, was on 3.5 million gallons when it was replaced.
The Larsens filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, but they said since Campbell is not a member, all they can do is keep the complaint on file for future reference. Larsen said she also called the city of Peoria, to ask them what they would do in a similar situation. She said they told her without evidence of a leak or of that 250,000 gallons of water, the bill would be written off as unexplained usage.
Larsen is quick to add that if she believed she was at fault she would pay the bill.
"We would own up to it. We would do the right thing," she said. "All I ask is that someone come out here and tell me where that water went. If they can do that, I'll pay for it. But they can't."