A Rymal Road condo corporation has successfully appealed to receive a $66,000 rebate on its water bill as a result of a serious leak that went undetected for part of a year. The complex located in the
Upper Gage-Rymal Road are was experiencing water bills in the $6,000 per month range throughout 2021, but starting in January 2022 the bills started rising and steadily increased, zooming past $26,000 per month by October 2022 when the major leak was detected and repaired. After the repair the water bill fell back to around $4,000 per month which is the lowest monthly bill the complex has experienced in four years. A staff report suggests that the leak probably started in 2021.
If there are no leaks, water usage and wastewater discharged are roughly equal except for usages like lawn watering. Staff recommended that the $66,000 rebate be approved based on an estimate of how much of the leaking water never made its way into the sewer system.
The staff report also showed there was a lack of consistency in dealing with similar appeals in the past—some appeals being approved, other denied. Councillor Hwang proposed a motion that would see staff develop a policy that would allow staff to make decisions on these issues in future. Such a policy would include an evaluation framework to determine the validity of such claims.
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