Widow says she’s facing $90K water bill after county came out to fix broken water pipes

A DeKalb homeowner faces a staggering $90,000 water bill that she says skyrocketed due to a leak on her property.

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Sherri Renee told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln that she first noticed a leak in her front yard but didn’t realize the severity until it turned her yard into a swamp. “It went from a small leak to a bigger stream of water,” Renee said.

After discovering her waterline was broken, Renee, a widow living on a fixed income, qualified for the DeKalb County CARES Program. This initiative helps individuals on fixed incomes by covering the cost of plumbing repairs on private property. Despite the county’s contractors coming out to fix the waterline in 2023, Renee said her bill has continued to climb.

In April of this year, the county sent Renee a notice alerting her more than 200 gallons of water was leaking per hour under her yard.

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“As of last month, it was $86,000, and now as of last week, it’s at $90,000,” Renee said, expressing disbelief and concern over the mounting charges.

DeKalb County officials said they are working with Renee to resolve the issue. Channel 2 Action News was there this week when the county sent a contractor to check Renee’s yard. The plumber discovered the new leak, which the county says will cost $11,000 to repair.

They’re working to learn where the second leak came from.

Once repairs are made and Renee’s usage has returned to normal, the county says she will be eligible for an adjustment to her bill.

“It’s going to all work out, I don’t know how but it is,” Renee said.

The DeKalb CARES plumbing repair program, administered by the county’s Community Development Department, assists income-eligible DeKalb County households with eligible, no-cost plumbing repairs.

Since its inception in May 2023, the $5 million program has or is in the process of assisting 185 customers with $1.2 million in plumbing repairs.