East Lake man takes Atlanta to court over big water bill and wins

ATLANTA - An East Lake couple took the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management to court over a $12,087.06 water bill and won.

Jeffery and Gail Williams's saga began in October 2022 and ended in January 2025. 

"It's been a long road," Jeffery Williams told the FOX 5 I-Team after asking DWM to correct his bill. It was denied. He appealed the decision to the water appeals board. That was also denied. Mr. Williams, acting as his own attorney, took his case to Fulton County Superior Court. 

Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his final order, "the Court finds that reversal is required here." 

The backstory:

"It started off with what I thought was a simple situation of the meter not accurately reporting the water usage," Williams said. 

EPA estimates of average usage showed their bills had them consuming 3.8 years' worth of water in those few short months, but nothing in their home had changed - no pool, no Jacuzzi, no sprinkler system. 

So, Williams called in a plumber. He didn't find a leak, but the expert did find and attest to a water meter measuring water usage incorrectly. He went to the Atlanta Sewer and Water Appeals Board with that information. A bill correction was denied again despite no one - not the neighbors, the homeowner, or even the water department - noticing a leak. 

SEE MORE: Plumber says $12K water bill result of defective meter, Atlanta Watershed refuses to adjust bil

What they're saying:

 An appeals board member suggested this phantom leak simply fixed itself. Board member Rosanne Maltese questioned whether there was some sort of intermittent leak that had magically repaired a leaking line without intervention. The judge didn't buy it and neither did the homeowner. 

"A $12,000 leak that fixes itself? "I don't think so," Williams said, still flabbergasted by the notion. 

Why you should care:

When an account holder appeals a water bill, there are four options, per city code. The city provides for a possible billing error where numbers were inputted incorrectly. There is a fee credit. Maybe you overpaid. The appeal falls under the heading of a leak credit. It’s a partial refund if a homeowner repairs a leak.  And finally, a meter leak can be grounds for a billing change. Nothing covers a possible broken water meter.

This is Judge McBurney's exchange with the city's attorney over which category the Williameses' case falls into:

"Let’s say that what the person who did the inspection from the department - what that person concluded was the meter was broken. It’s not leaking, but it’s not working correctly. Which of these four or is that just too bad for the customer?" McBurney asked.

"We have not had that situation to occur that you’re mentioning. It’s speculative," senior City of Atlanta attorney Tracey Hackett said, 

"Until now," the judge responded, 

Dig deeper:

Another property owner who received an $81,000 water bill from a dilapidated property on a busy street took the Atlanta Department of Water Management to court as well. Gail Mapp also won her case. She told the appeals board the inherited property had no running water and no signs of a leak, also verified by a plumber. 

She lost every appeal until she went to Fulton County Superior Court. The judge called the bill erroneous and ordered the outstanding balance be removed. 

Mapp's attorney, Monica Owens, said, "The city would basically like everybody to leave their commonsense at the door to accept its arguments, and apparently the board's custom is to do so rubberstamping the department's billing errors."