City Claims 80-Year-Old Couple Used 440,000 Gallons Of Water In A Month

11000An 80-year-old California man concedes that it’s entirely possible that he has used 440,000 gallons of water in one month, and that he and his wife really do owe the city $11,000. It’s possible if the city has been pumping dehydrated water into his house.

“I must be using dehydrated water, because the house would be on pontoons if that’s how much water was leaking,” he told CBS Sacramento. Dehydrated water is, of course, not actually a thing. Neither was the shocking $11,000 bill. The entire neighborhood hasn’t yet floated away, and it turns out that the bill was issued in error.

The city blamed a computer error and a glitch in the couple’s radio-transmitted meter reading. Usually, they explained to the news station, a human being catches errors like that before bills are mailed. Usually.

The couple have laminated the exaggerated bill, presumably so they can pass it down as a family heirloom. Their actual bill for that month, by the way, was $71.

$11,000 Water Bill: Mistake Shows Manteca Couple Using 440,000 Gallons [CBS Sacramento]

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