Tree roots leave Australian homeowner facing a water bill over $5,600

An underground leak caused by tree roots left one homeowner in Australia facing a quarterly water bill of over 8,021 Australian dollars ($5,603).

After the homeowner shared an image of their bill to Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating forum, replies poured in with practical advice. Many commenters urged the original poster to seek a leak adjustment before handing over that much cash.

Here's what to know

A photo shared by the OP showed the massive bill, and the discussion that followed centered on why the homeowner, and not the utility, was being charged.

Much of the confusion came from readers who were used to water meters inside homes, leading the OP to explain: "Water meter is at the edge of the section. Pipes from there are the homeowner's responsibility."

They added: "Tree roots through the main's on my side of the meter. Will lodge an appeal, but it's unlikely to be successful."

Users were stunned by the size of the bill. "I hope I can get to the point where eight grand is only mildly infuriating to me. Jesus, that's rough," one said. Someone else wrote that the post "belongs in r/extremelyinfuriating."

Another person stated a charge like that would leave them "destitute."

One user said the utility should have flagged such a dramatic jump in water usage, noting: "Any competent water company would have noticed the spike in water usage pretty quickly, informed the customer, and investigated the situation. And probably turned off the water service until it was fixed."

What can be done?

Commenters urged the OP to challenge the balance.

"I'll be paying it off over eight months," the homeowner said. "Will appeal it, though."

An American plumber said utilities often lower bills once a leak has been fixed. "Usually they'll just have you pay an average of the last six months or something instead of the amount with the leak. You just have to tell them there was a leak and it was dealt with," they explained.

Others said they had received credits or forgiveness after contesting similar charges.

Where can I learn more?

Big jumps in water use, and fights over who has to pay, have left countless other households with the same kind of sticker shock. 

• First-time homeowners were told they had a huge leak even though their meter read 0.0.

• In Los Angeles, a couple faced a $9,200 water bill after years of meter errors.

• In Florida, a renter found a $30,198 water bill tied to nearly one million gallons.

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