Augusta Utilities still seeing higher water bills after cyberattack

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta Utilities says they’re getting more calls about high bills.

It has been about a month since we last checked in, where Augusta Utilities said that water bills should return back to normal after the cyber attack threw things for a loop.

But people say they’re still seeing their bills double.

So what’s the problem?

Augusta Utilities says a number of factors are still at play, including the summer season’s uptick in water use, the rise of bills in general, but also the water meters themselves.

There’s already a campaign to replace all 75,000 meters in the county, but some were installed as far back as the 1980′s.

Desperate for help after receiving a water bill for $140 for water use that Carolyn Cope says normally costs $70, Cope says she tapped a nearby utility worker to check out her meter.

“He looked in and he said ‘Oh Ms. Cope, wow. This needs to be replaced, it’s very old.’ and I was like, I’m sure it is. I’ve lived here for 20 years and I’ve never had it replaced,” she said.

She lives alone with her dog Max and knew something was up, but was tired of getting workarounds when reaching out to Augusta Utilities.

“It was the food coloring test, I was supposed to put drops of that in my commodes, in my bathrooms and see if there was a leak, and see if it showed up in the bowl, I did all that and nothing happened, except it made a mess in the back of the toilet,” said Cope.

As it turns out Augusta Utilities says if it’s not the summer water use, it’s the meters themselves.

Of the 75,000 water meters active in Richmond County, about 30% still have to be read in person.

Separate parts inside the device were all affected during the cyber shutdown, but some are just old.

There’s been an active campaign in Augusta Utilities since 2021 when they were awarded $6 million in American Rescue Plan money to replace all 75,000, but they’re still working on deciding a trial replacement model and this project is set to take five years to complete replacing them all.

There’s a back order on water meters because of high demand during COVID, but they say the meters should still be working normally for the most part.

Direct of Augusta Utilities, Wes Byne, said: “There should not be anomalies still. And again, if we can find out who those citizens are that are

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