By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
Sept. 10, 2024 | The Gwinnett Department of Water Resources has heart. That’s encouraging, since Gwinnett County government is huge, with 6,000 employees spread over 14 professional departments.
We can vouchsafe for Gwinnett having heart.
It all started over a water bill. Where my usage was often 5,000 gallons or less, suddenly our household was being charged for 54,000 gallons of water! And instead of having a bill of about $50 for water and sewer, the new bill total was $1,056.07.
What was going on?
It took a while to figure it out. It went back to our house having a blockage in the sewer pipe near the street. A root had been growing inside the pipe for years, and finally blocked sewage being able to flow to the street’s sewer line. A plumber fixed the problem, but in doing so, had to dig deeply to get the sewer line, about six to 10 feet below the ground. Using a heavy backhoe, which weighs between 7-10,000 pounds, we didn’t realize it at the time, but the weight of the back hoe had crushed the thin lawn irrigation lines, only a couple of feet below the surface.
For some reason, there was no indication that the irrigation lines were crushed except one: the irrigation system was not working.
Putting in a call to an irrigation service, one guy showed up when he wasn’t supposed to, dug into the ground, and found the problem. But he never talked to us, nor could we get in contact with him. Another irrigation service was scheduled to check out our problem three different times, but never showed up. This was getting frustrating.
At last Tim Waters of Snellville, who runs Waterways Irrigation, arrived, looked over the situation, started digging using a five inch shovel, and determined what had happened. “The back hoe crushed the lines in several places. You’re going to have to install new lines.” He came back the next day, and within two hours was finished, with the irrigation system working beautifully. Tim’s main job is as a Gwinnett County fireman, stationed at Collins Hill. (“Great work on our system, Tim. Thanks.”)
Now back to the Water Department: when we got the big water bill, our initial contact was Mary Robertson, of Loganville, who is their “customer care advocate.” She immediately told us not to pay the $1,000 water bill, for it was obvious that something was wrong. “When you get your irrigation system repaired, let us know, and we’ll send someone out to read your water bill and get you a new bill.”
So after Tim Waters had repaired the system, we called Mary back. “We just had someone out there to read your meter,” she told us. “And your new bill will be $58.65.”
Wow! We were relieved. And it showed to us that our Gwinnett Department of Water Resources has their operation running smoothly to help customers in distress. It’s good to see government working with its people to help solve their problems, and that it’s got heart.
Mulberry residents: We encourage you to read the demographic questionnaire that GwinnettForum put to the 15 candidates in the race for the initial Mulberry City Council. The candidate answers are also linked in the right panel of the front page of the Forum. Over the weekend, the remaining four candidates completed the form, so that readers can view all the candidate answers. GwinnettForum is pleased to provide this public service to its readers.
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