A single Aussie man has been slugged with a $15,000 water bill after a local council claimed he had used more than 35,000 litres a day over the last 104 days.
Anthony lives on his own in the Southern Tablelands of NSW with a modest garden, fishpond and workshop out the back.
He said his bill is normally around $290 and that he uses about 130 litres of water a day, which is the amount Sydney Water estimates an average person will uses.
Anthony was shocked when he received a $15,645.86 water bill from Goulburn Mulwaree Council.
Anthony (pictured right) lives on his own in the Southern Tablelands of NSW with a modest with a modest garden, fishpond and workshop out the back
‘A 15-and-a-half thousand dollar water bill, they can go and get themselves nicked,’ he told A Current Affair.
‘I’m not paying it, no way in the world.’
A bout of cancer has left the local mechanic struggling to communicate so his father Neil went to a council meeting with his son and tried to talk on his behalf.
‘I couldn’t believe it when he showed me the bill,’ Neil said.
‘Currently now, we’re at this point in stage where we can’t get any reasonable common sense from the council.
‘I said, ‘It’s got to be the crook meter’, and she said, ‘We’ve had a lot of meters tested and they’ve all come back positive’.
‘And I said, ‘What about this meter?’ and she said, ‘It’ll cost you $50 to have it tested but there’ll be nothing wrong with it’.’
He has received numerous emails from Goulburn Mulwaree Council telling him to prove he had not used that much water.
He is accused of using more than 3.6million litres of water, which is the equivalent of filling two Olympic sized swimming pools – or having five taps running all-day.
He has received numerous emails from Goulburn Mulwaree Council telling him to prove he had not used that much water, which is the equivalent of filling two Olympic sized swimming pools or having five taps running all-day everyday
Anthony said he received an overdue bill notice ordering him to pay it immediately.
‘I got an email saying I can have a payment plan and all the rest of it… like, get real,’ he said.
‘I’m not going to pay it.’
Neil explained that Anthony uses his own water tank to water his lawn, fill his fishpond and wash his car, saying his son has been slugged a ‘ridiculous’ amount considering he only uses town waters for washing up and showering.
Anthony has been asked to prepare a detailed letter of his water usage, which will be presented at a council meeting later this month.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Goulburn Mulwaree Council for comment.
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