Brooklyn Man Gets Jaw-Dropping $500K Water Bill
A Brooklyn man is fighting the metropolis over an eye-watering $500,000 utility bill.
Every homeowner's nightmare came true for Joseph Sparrow of East Flatbush, Brooklyn when he received a $552,483 water bill.
According to City Hall, Sparrow owes the staggering amount due to accumulated penalties and fines.
Brooklyn man fighting city over shocking $500K water bill https://t.co/8ce7sae8CJ pic.twitter.com/AetIHqNGDv
— New York Post (@nypost) March 25, 2019
“This bill amount is totally impossible — someone said I would have had to be running a fire hydrant around the clock to run up anything close to what the city has billed me.”
A GIGANTIC WATER BILL ATTRIBUTED TO A LEAK
The gigantic water bill is the outcome of an ongoing conflict between the homeowner and the City's water department.
The department claims that Sparrow has a leak on his property and that the astronomical bill is the result of his not paying for his water for a 4-year period.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Hear that? That’s the sound of your water bill stacking up. Did you know that an open fill valve flowing at 3-5 gallons per minute can waste up to 4000 gallons in a day?! Don’t let that be you. #FixALeak https://t.co/q7FaRoB8rN pic.twitter.com/HwPSYSAfsX
— NYC Water (@NYCWater) March 22, 2019
The City is foreclosing on Sparrow's home which he bought at the age of 18 with the proceeds of a legal settlement for his mother’s death
SPARROW HAS NOT PAID HIS WATER BILL SINCE 2013
Sparrow maintains that he has no leak on his property, and paid a crew $30,000 to check the plumbing. No leak was detected, and the water meter is sound.
The water department is adamant that there is a leak that Sparrow refuses to fix:
“The property had a substantial water leak, which, despite several notices over the years, the owner has refused to repair, and the water bill has not been paid since 2013.”
Kitchen sink/ Source: Pixabay
SPARROW IS FACING EVICTION FROM HIS HOME
The City is foreclosing on Sparrow's home which he bought at the age of 18 with the proceeds of a legal settlement for his mother’s death only two months after he was born:
“I bought this house at 19, and I have always tried to do the right thing in my life. This is the only thing I have, and they are trying to take it from me. I could end up homeless, living in a shelter, or with nowhere to go, if this is not resolved fairly.”
It’s #FixALeak Week! Join us at Home Depot stores throughout the outer boroughs this week to find out how to catch those water leaks before they catch you. 💦https://t.co/KEew6UciWd pic.twitter.com/yFsXLASiyH
— NYC Water (@NYCWater) March 21, 2019
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION REFUTES THE CITY'S CLAIM
The CEO of Merit Holdings Group, Brian Walton, who forensically examined Sparrow’s water bills explained the impossibility of the City's claims:
“To put this volume of water in context, an Olympic pool contains approximately 88,000 cubic feet of water. Mr. Sparrow is being billed for, and supposedly [was] consuming, just shy of two times that amount on a monthly basis.”
An independent analysis by professional plumbers asserts that Sparrow's water consumption would not have exceeded $40 of water a month.
While the City concentrates on billing Joseph Sparrow, New York is dealing with several urgent problems linked to the water supply and the sewerage system, including the build-up of fatbergs.
KANSAS MAN RECEIVES WHOPPING $500,000 BILL
Like Joseph Sparrow, a Missouri man was flabbergasted to receive a water bill claiming he owed the City $590,997.85.
Luckily for him, the City discovered that the astronomical bill was the result of a faulty water meter, and the man received a revised bill for $45.22.
Here's hoping Joseph Sparrow's conflict with the New York City water department is resolved as amicably.
