Some water companies and community projects have draconian rules with regard to payment of their services. Some time ago, I was a bit late in settling my monthly water bill. My water connection was promptly severed. It was assumed to be a default and I was slapped with a hefty reconnection fee. I am wondering whether water can be prepaid to avoid such inconveniencing fines.
Yes, the water reconnection fee is usually higher than the other utilities, probably it's because the process involving water is more labour intensive the process for the other utilities. I don't see the availability of a prepaid water service anytime soon. I believe that the logistics for facilitating it would probably be too costly.
Having your water disconnected is really a bummer, speaking from experience. Fortunately the fee charged was spread out over a three month period. I agree with @explorerx7 that prepaid water service won't be happening anytime soon. To avoid future problems I average my usage out over the three month billing cycle and pay it that way. Hope this helps.
My city requires a deposit when establishing water service. Despite that, and also the fact that running water is considered necessary these days in the United States, they will be quick to cut it off. Thankfully, they won't cut it off until an account is 2 months due, or 1 month overdue, with the 2nd month due. I haven't had mine disconnected, but it did almost happen at one particularly trying period, and hopefully I'll never be in that situation again. That being said, the deposit I paid would more than cover 2 months worth of billing, so it really irks me that they would threaten to disconnect service when they're holding onto enough money to pay the bill.
Water reconnection fees in our place costs an arm and a leg. And to think that it is only just using a wrench to unlock the valve, it is exorbitant to charge us 2,000 pesos (around $50). It's a good thing that water bills can be paid online so I am never remiss unlike before when I usually would forget because going to the water distributor's office is a hassle. I have been advising our neighbors to be prompt in their payment because they will be traumatized with the reconnection fee.
If you have small children or someone with health problems, some states have laws requiring that you aren't allow to have your utilities cut off. Maybe you should look into it and see if it can help you in any way. Log In
I think most people would pay the bill when and if they could, and it still irritates me that necessary utilities are cut off. There was a house down the street from where I grew up, where a few elderly women lived. People like that tend to stay inside more, and we were all busy with life, work, school, etc. We later found out that an unscrupulous man tricked the owner into selling the house to him for way under market value, and she moved, apparently into a nursing home. He flipped the house for a huge profit, but we later learned that the women had been living in poverty, without even having running water. I wish I'd known at the time that they were struggling, because I certainly would have intervened. They weren't all that sociable, and in cities, neighbors aren't quite as friendly as they could be, but I never would have let them live in that situation. It seems someone from the city should have realized what was going on when the bills weren't paid, and made a call to Elder Services.
I have never heard of prepaid water plans, meaning you can avail of water connection at your own time and pace. It's always in the "postpaid" setup and you're required to pay on a monthly basis depending on your consumption. I have no qualms about this system but it can be a bother if you're met with financial challenges and water companies do not try to understand your situation. Perhaps a promissory note or a deferred payment plan may be in order? Water suppliers - especially those owned by private firms - hardly care whether you have money issues or not because for them, your payment matters most.
You definitely don't want to be without running water. I know someone who recently had their water turned off, and it's been very hot here, making it worse. Also, the water department increased the rate of the re-connection fee by a large margin. I imagine it is meant to be a strong deterrent against not paying the bill on time, but it left this person really scrambling. I do have to say that at least here, they will always work with you. If the person had followed up, arrangements could have been made to avoid having the water shut off (but they didn't listen). Always try to talk to someone there and work something out. Sometimes, you can get an extension for a few days, if that's all you need. If that won't do it, they will often set up a payment arrangement of some sort. You will probably end up with a late fee, but it will be far less than a re-connection fee.
