The Sprung Spring -- UPDATE! -- "The Days of Our Water Meter"

Remember this post from June 11th? The post that explains how Moogie got to know a nice lady with an interesting name from the Sewerage & Water Board?

The Spring Has Sprung

Remember this photo of the "spring" next to Moogie's Mansion? Well, guess what. It's apparently moved to one of the water meters leading to Moogie's Mansion. Not quite as fountainy, but steady.

I've called the Sewerage and Water Board about it several times, but didn't expect much action, nor gave it much more thought except in the mornings when Pepper has to straddle it to get into his big ol' truck.

Until this month's bill arrived. Then -- whoa!!

Ordinarily the bill for that meter runs about $18 for water/sewer and $12 for sanitation. The bill for this month ran a little higher. The total (including the sanitation fee) was $432.00!!! For 600,000+ gallons of water used!!!

So Pepper suggested that, to protect him from suffering a stroke, I should probably call the Sewerage and Water Board back. Which I did. And I talked to a remarkably pleasant woman named Gowandy. Yes, I asked her to spell it. When she asked how she could help me, I replied that I was afraid the meter had been misread based on our usage history. She looked up our account and said, "Wow."

Then she asked whether we had suffered a broken pipe or leak in the yard.

A broken pipe or leak that wasted 600,000 gallons of water.

I replied that there is no leak in the yard, but that there is one at the meter. And, I added, I doubt whether that wussy little leak would generate 600,000 gallons of water.

So, she explained the procedure to me -- apparently this phenomenon isn't uncommon in the least. Go figure! And here is where the New Orleans flavor kicks in: they will send out someone to inspect the leak and check the meter, but we have to send in a payment. Not the whole $432 -- we're just supposed to send in what we would ordinarily pay, like $18.00, and there will be no late charge (which I will believe when I see it!). But, we also need to send in a separate check for $12, payable to the City of New Orleans, for the sanitation fee. We can even send the separate check in the same envelope, but there must be a separate check.

Knowing how accounting works in Orleans Parish, I didn't even ask why there was a need for a separate check. I really didn't want to know.

So, the wheels have been placed in motion -- we shall see when the Sewerage and Water Board inspectors show up.

Any bets?

Well, today's mail brought this month's bill. And, even though I was supposed to receive a letter from the S&WB telling me the results of their inspection, and have yet to receive any letter (or to spy an inspector lurking around -- or even a meter reader, come to think of it), the usage and amount owed seem to have miraculously returned to normal.

(Sort of -- the bill shows a payment slightly greater than what Pepper sent in last month. Go figure -- the S&WB seems to have a slight data-entry issue.)

And -- here's the real shocker -- there is no late fee charged for last month!

Also interesting is the failure, so far, of the City to cash that mandatory separate $12 check for the sanitation fee. And this city complains about budget shortfalls!


I can only come to one conclusion: my little diversionary phone call worked and the cloaking device is working to conceal the new pool and native stone fountain that Buck ratted out!

Mwaa ha ha ha!!! Beam me up, NASA!

Oh, wait, NASA's out of the space biz . . .