Peterborough Select Board denies water bill abatement request

After further investigation into a possibly defective water meter, the Peterborough Select Board voted to deny Union Street resident Mike Young’s request for an abatement of an unusually high water bill he received for the spring quarter.

“We investigated this further because wanted to be very thorough in this assessment,” said Select Board member Bonnie Tucker.

Young had requested an abatement of $176.36, or the difference between his anomalous high bill of $222.77 and his typical bill of $46.41 per quarter.

After Young appealed to the Select Board on Dec. 6, Assistant Town Administrator Seth MacLean undertook further testing of the water meter at Young’s home to determine whether “air in the line” could have caused the spike in water use.

MacLean’s report, submitted to the Select Board on Dec. 11, stated that the water meter does not register air flow, and that movement of air in the meter could not have been a factor in the reading.

MacLean stated that the additional magnitude of water indicated in Young’s spring bill “is consistent with a running fixture, outdoor hose use, a malfunctioning toilet, or another continuous flow event.”

According to MacLean, Young’s water meter readings reflected a “sustained flow of water.”

“For context, a continuous undetected flow of only .18 gallons per minute over three months would produce the same total usage,” MacLean stated.

Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said Young had mentioned in his email of Aug. 14 that he had replaced a plumbing part in his home after receiving the high bill. Young stated to the board on Dec. 6 that he did not think a leak could be the cause of the high flow.

“There was a defective piece of plumbing equipment which he repaired in August,” MacStay said. “We can only assume it must have been broken for a while.”

Select Board Chair Tyler Ward noted that while the plumbing issue may be a viable explanation for the high bill, the cause of the leak can never be determined for certain.

“We will never know for sure what caused this leak, but it could have been any number of things. It could have been this plumbing part, it could have been a hose left on,” Tucker said. “We realize in the scheme of things this is a not a huge amount of money, but I am glad we were able to investigate it.”