We disagree with water billing in Malta

Dear Editor,

We write this letter to bring attention to what we feel are the egregious and illegal acts and policies of Malta, Montana Water District. The first act we’d like to bring attention to is the charging for services not rendered, we have been continually billed for water service to both our garage that has no water nor any outlets to dispense water) and to the house located at 621 Highway 2 E. Malta, Mont., even though we have repeatedly informed them that the residence is question has a well and receives no water from the city system.

The second act we’d like to address is the amount of our supposed water usage. The district claims we use up to and over 20,000 gallons of water per month at our trailer home. Since we have only two people living in said home, that averages out to 10,000 gallons per month per person. Since the average daily use per person is 80-100 gallons (U.S. Dept of the Interior and USGS estimates) times 30 days per month equals an average usage of 3,000 gallons per month per person. Somehow we are using over three times that amount. We have checked for major leaks and found none, our toilets are not constantly running, and we do not have a flood in our house nor a swamp in our yard (or an ice-skating rink during the winter months). We have to wonder where is all this water is coming from and going to? The water district has refused to check their meter nor will they show us where the curb stops are that supposedly allow them to charge for the places that receive no water and are yet billed.

Lydia Abrahamson

Malta, Montana