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According to Amy Studwick’s new smart water meter, her home used 67,247 litres of water in just four days.
That’s the equivalent of 447 bathtubs full of water.
Studwick said she was handed a $762 water bill, which is $556 higher than normal to cover the usage.
She said she knew something wasn’t right and began documenting her experience. That’s when she created a Facebook group called “Regina Water Meter Accuracy Alliance.”
“I created the group to bring people together having a similar experience, so we could try to problem solve together,” she said. “I didn’t think that it would grow into this big of a group with this many problems.”
Studwick said she was hit with a $556.72 budget catch-up in May, 2024 after getting her new smart water meter installed in October, 2023. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
The group has more than 1,400 members, and some of them spoke to 980 CJME about their concerns last year.
People in the group are seeing spikes in usage, similar to Studwick, including wter usage every hour, usage when no one is home and damage to their home from poor installations.
The City of Regina began its Water Meter Upgrade Project in October of 2022.
When Studwick got her higher-than-normal bill, she said she began digging around and noticed additional readings which were also unusually high.
Studwick did some digging of her own and found a four-day period of high water usage. She confirmed it was not a leak after multiple visits from city crews and a plumber. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
She got in contact with the city to try and solve the problem.
“I did months of their testing recommendations and there was no leak,” Studwick said.
She also had city workers and a plumber check her house for leaks, and had to pay for the service out of pocket. Studwick said she felt like her concerns fell on deaf ears.
“When I started to escalate my concern is when I really started to experience a lot of roadblocks and a pervasive unwillingness to address this issue,” she said.
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Studwick said she’s reached the point of not knowing what to do next. She’s gone through every checklist from the city and has proved she doesn’t have a leak. And when she reaches out to the city, she said she either doesn’t get a response or gets sent the same checklist.
Studwick experienced more than one unusual spike in usage. She saw spikes in November, January, August and September. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
Members of the online group, along with Strudwick met with Regina’s previous Mayor Sandra Masters about the issue. She said while the meeting was positive, nothing happened as a result.
“We did get some communication from the mayor’s office, which inferred that city administration would not agree to pursue the issue, and that was pretty much the last we heard from the mayor’s office,” she said.
Now with new Mayor Chad Bachynski and eight new councillors in place, the group is back to square one.
Studwick did, however, applaud councillor Shanon Zachidniak for being the only council member to acknowledge her problems and stay in contact.
“She’s showing a willingness to help, but she can’t do that on her own,” she said.
Studwick said she understands that the problem won’t be solved overnight, but she wants to see some real action.
“I understand that the mayor and council do not participate in the city’s day-to-day operations. However, they are responsible for holding city administration accountable and representing the public’s interests,” she said.
Studwich reading the City of Regina’s “Water Meter Upgrade Project” report. She said the report left her with more questions than answers. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
Studwick said she isn’t against the meter upgrade, which has seen 76,000 water meters replaced. She thinks it’s a good idea, but she thinks it’s unreasonable for the city to deny any probability of a small defect rate.
“When they start seeing similar concerns rolling in that aren’t fitting into their little box, somebody might be curious and think, ‘Huh, what’s going on here? This is unusual. Maybe we should dig into this,’ but absolutely not,” she said.
“They’re very rigid in their thinking, and for whatever reason there’s a very pervasive unwillingness to even consider that there’s any issues.”
She said the city simply acknowledging the problem would be a great start.
“I think it’s a very small per cent of homeowners that are having these similar challenges with inaccuracies, which baffles me why they haven’t addressed it, and now it’s grown into such a big thing,” Studwick said.
“If they would have answered some questions or acknowledged it when I first started raising the issue, I think it probably could have been dealt with by now, and it would be a non-issue.”
Studwick’s new smart water meter was installed in October, 2023. Her $762.79 bill came in May, 2024. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
Studwick said she’d also like to see the city investigate people’s concerns on a case-by-case basis, and improve its dispute resolution process.
“The current process of submitting a service request and working through their checklist of solutions is unacceptable,” she said. “Their idea of a dispute resolution in my case is ‘just ignore her.’ We don’t have the answers, so let’s just ignore her and hope she goes away.”
Studwick said she thinks the dispute process is inequitable, as not everyone can afford to call in plumbers to comb through their home for leaks.
“I’m talking about seniors, marginalized communities, newcomers and other folks who are living off of fixed income,” she said.
“What happens to them when they get a $700 water bill and they have to try to navigate this absolutely impossible dispute resolution process? It’s completely unacceptable.”
Studwick said she hasn’t seen another spike in usage recently, but that isn’t good enough for her.
“I’m not satisfied yet. Even though my meter has been working fine, I have no assurance that it’s not going to happen again,” she said.
These charts show the hourly meter readings from two high-usage events, one in November and another in January. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
City responds
The city responded with a very similar answer to CJME’s inquiries back in the fall of 2024.
The city said it has now upgraded more than 76,000 water meters (nearly 97 per cent), saying the new meters provide improvements in billing accuracy and enhanced water usage insights for residents.
The city said it continues to investigate every inquiry about water consumption and billing concerns.
“Each case follows a structured process to determine the source of high consumption,” the emailed statement read.
That process includes a requested meter test, but the test will cost homeowners $87.50 if it reveals no issues.
“To date, investigations overwhelmingly confirm that increased bills are linked to water usage within the property and are not due to issues with the new meters,” the city said.
While many people in the Facebook group are hoping to opt out of the replacement, it’s not an option.
“The upgrade to the newer water meter technology is mandatory, as the old meters are at the end of service life and accuracy is declining,” the city’s statement read. “The upgrade ensures reliable and precise measurement of water use for all water utility customers across the city.”
The city said that after completing its checklist, it encourages people to register for “eWater” to view their hourly consumption data and better understand their usage patterns.
Mayor Chad Bachynski says majority of meters “working as intended”
Mayor Chad Bachynski joined the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Thursday to discuss the city’s proposed budget and water meters.
Bachynski said that as far as he can tell, there is no major issue with the meters.
“I mean, nothing’s 100 per cent perfect,” he said.
“If folks have something odd happening, I would definitely say to reach out to the city so we can investigate that.”
Listen to the full interview here:
He said the new meters are more efficient than the older models.
“Instead of having to drive a truck around to collect data on a systematic basis, we actually pull regularly through the transmitter now,” he said. “It’s actually less costly and timely to have to send a truck around. The accuracy of the new meters is better.”
The mayor said he understands that the majority of the meters are working as intended, but if anyone is experiencing problems, he recommended reaching out to the city.
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