Many residents in Portage la Prairie north of the railway tracks and south of Saskatchewan Avenue recently received water bills with errors. The issue stems from the transition from old analog meters to the newly replaced digital meters. Waterworks Committee Chair Wayne Wall says it was a computer software issue.

"The problem was due to a conflict between our internal accounting software and the software in the new Neptune meter system. The two weren't communicating very well. Our I.T. people have been working on a patch between those two computer systems. Our water clerks have been manually looking at bills and trying to sort things out, and our accounting staff have been trying to come up with an overall fix."

Wall says new water bills will be issued in the next few weeks.

Wayne Wall"As of now the decision is to regenerate and re-issue water bills for Area 1 and Area 3.  Area 1 is south of Saskatchewan Ave. Area 3 is north of the tracks. Area 2 is between Saskatchewan Ave and the tracks. For Area 1 and Area 3 they'll get a new bill very shortly, and that bill will clearly indicate that it's a revised bill. So, it'll take into account anything they might have paid up until now. It'll rectify any erroneous readings, and it should straighten things out. Now, Area and Area 3. So, those will replace the water bills issued in August and September in Area 1 and Area 3. Anybody who makes automatic payments online, the payment that's due to come out on the 18th of this month will not be taken out of your bank account until after they get these bills and we're sure everything's sorted out."

Wall notes if you're in Area 2, there were minor discrepancies in the bills. Nothing too serious, and they should be straightened out with the next bill.

"Some of those bills will be five month bills and some will be two month bills. We're hoping to get back on the quarterly billing cycle. The plan is to receive a bill in January as usual. We've been asked by some people if we would consider going on a monthly billing cycle in the future. Some people find it a little tough to get a three month bill and pay that all at once. They'd rather pay it a month at a time. That's something we'll look into in the future."

He adds the City's definitely not happy with the current situation, and are doing their best to rectify it.

"It's been a rough four months. The toughest part was for the frontline clerks at city hall.  They're the people that meet face to face with irate customers and have to try and explain these things. They've been working really hard and have done a good job of treating people with respect, and not getting angry when people get angry with them. It's been really tough for them. And I drop in from time to time and say,  'Hey, guys. You're doing a good job and we appreciate it.' "

Wall says there was a bit of an anger issue with residents as a result of the problem.

"Things have settled down a little bit. There was a lot of stuff on social media for a while and people were angry and upset. There were some huge bills. There were $900 water bills. Instead of calling city hall or talking to someone about it, people were just ranting on social media to a certain extent. That's calmed down.  I think people generally understand what the problem is. They know we're working on it. We appreciate their patience.

Wall explains what will happen if you're one of the people who received bills similar to the $900 amount.

"We've been asking all along that people just pay what they normally are billed in a three month cycle, and wait until things get straightened out. Some people have done that. I just talked to a fellow 15 minutes ago who's just been paying his regular amount on his water bill since this started. And he's going to be just fine. $900 water bills... I don't think those people actually paid those bills.  They're waiting til things get straightened out. Some people have paid larger than normal bills. They'll get a credit. Nobody will be penalized, and nobody's water bill will go to taxes because of this. "

When asked about any feedback from city staff involved with the meters, Wall says, "I haven't heard so much from city staff as much as I have from customers who have taken their flashlights down and shone them on the meter, and the little leak icon pops up in the corner. Several people have told me they had fairly substantial leaks which they found that way.  It's quite the system. It'll tell you if there's just a drip or if it's a 24 hour a day thing, and really help you get a handle on stopping those leaks, and cutting down your water bills."

Wall recommends you take a close look at your next bill to notice it's marked as revised.

"There are errors on the previous bills. This new one we hope is correct. It'll have your consumption and billing period on it. You should be able to look at an old water bill, and notice if you usually use 3,000 gallons in a quarter and this looks like 3,000 gallons per quarter. The bills that people get will be clearly marked as to what period they cover. They could cover the period that was covered in their bill they got in August, plus the time between now and then."

He adds if bills overlap, an adjustment will be made.