Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill

A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six figure water bill.

Dorothy Martin's normal water bill is around $118. The Charleswood senior and her son Tim, couldn’t believe the amount she was hosed for this week.

"I was absolutely shocked to see such an outrageous amount for a bill," said Tim Martin.

Dorothy has preauthorized payments taken from her bank account for her water bill. On Wednesday, Tim Martin received an email, alerting him his mom's bank account had been massively overdrawn.

"My first thought was that this was some sort of phishing scam," he said.

But he decided to check it out anyway. He soon discovered his mom's account was overdrawn because of a water bill from the City of Winnipeg for $146,273.35.

Dorothy Martin's account was overdrawn more than $146,000 due to a City of Winnipeg water bill. Uploaded July 26, 2024. (Jeff Keele/CTV News Winnipeg)

"This represents over 250 years worth of water billing,” Tim said. “It's over 1,000 times greater than her ordinary bill."

On top of this, Tim said his mom is getting hit with a $30 NSF fee from the water and waste department. He suspects his mom may have simply made an error when submitting her last meter reading.

Still, he questions why no red flags went up on the city's end to prevent such a large amount from being withdrawn.

"In what kind of scenario would anyone expect the processing of a bill of $146,000 on a personal account not to go NSF," said Tim.

In a statement, a City of Winnipeg spokesperson said measures are in place for situations like this. 

"We contact a customer by phone and mail if their bill seems larger than their previous consumption history would suggest, prior to billing the account," the spokesperson said. "A larger than expected bill could be indicative of a water leak or simply an error with a supplied meter reading. This is why it is important for customers to know how to read their water meter and submit accurate readings regularly."

New technology may prevent this kind of sticker shock in the future. The city is moving towards smart meters which could alert homeowners about problems long before bill time and eliminate estimates and home readings.

“That sounds like a terrific advancement in the system because we all know we're human, we're prone to error,” Tim said.

It’s unclear what will happen with the bill, but Tim tells CTV News the bank has reversed the charge on that end.