Woman charged $800 Watercare bill due to faulty meter

A North Shore woman says she's stressed out and being kept awake at night after getting an eight hundred dollar bill from Watercare, because its smart meter clapped out. The latest bill claims the Browns Bay couple used an average of 4342 litres of water per day. Added to the couples other catch up bill, they now owe Watercare more than 12 hundred dollars. Following a Checkpoint investigation Watercare revealed thirteen thousand of its smart meters have malfunctioned, and need to be replaced. As a consequence customers have been charged incorrectly and after getting zero use bills are now facing big catch up accounts. Watercare customer Lizzie spoke to Lisa Owen.