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9 Investigates: Edgewater residents' costly water bill

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Some Volusia County property owners in Edgewater were shocked when they got a water bill as high as their mortgage for their newly constructed homes, and they're blaming the city.

9 Investigates reporter Daralene Jones found out the city has a solution to fix the problem.

"This is crazy. My water bill is as high as my mortgage," said homeowner John Cid.

Cid said he was billed nearly $800 for 49,000 gallons of water.

The city of Edgewater found most of the water was used watering his yard.

9 Investigates found out residents are forced to use potable water, the clean water from the aquifer, safe for drinking, cooking and washing.

The base usage fee for potable water is $10.

Anything greater than 10,000 gallons is billed at nearly $9 for every 1,000 gallons used, and that doesn't include the sewage fee rates.

"I would like to see a permanent solution to this problem. Perhaps have them bring in reclaimed water or something," said Cid.

The city has plenty of reclaimed water, producing and treating 1.5 million gallons a day.

But the city can only get it to 3,000 of its 11,000 customers.

So, the extra water gets dumped in the Indian River.

"To add the infrastructure to carry that reclaimed water to the residents that don't currently have it is very expensive," said City of Edgewater representative Brenda Dewees.

It can cost up to $110 per foot to add underground pipe lines.

The city recently failed to secure a state grant that would've helped. The cost of a loan would be passed on to customers.

Cid said he believes doing nothing will cause another financial problem for the city.

"If people you know catch on to this they're not going to want to buy from us. So that's obviously going to impact our property values," said Cid.

Cid's bill was later adjusted to $630 as a courtesy.

The neighborhood is still under construction. The city and residents said the builder could've taken care of the issue by adding a well to the property.

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