BRIGHTON, Colo. -- No one likes getting bills in the mail, but some people in Brighton are taking to Facebook to complain about water bill sticker shock after they say their statements are double what they normally were.
"We noticed a spike in our water bill about April," said Dava Mazur, who noticed right away when her water bill started to rise. "It got even worse when we turned on the sprinklers. My bill was not this last summer. I know because I budget everything."
Mazur said her bill was almost $100 more than she expected, even though the charts show they were using less water than the previous two years.
"My husband checked for leaks for the sprinkler system and all of that, and we've not been able to find anything," said Mazuer.
She is not the only one feeling like her money is going down the drain.
"There are over 162 comments. Look, this one says they had a $700 bill," said Chaslyn Williams, reading from dozens of Facebook posts about high water bills in Brighton. "Something seems suspicious to me and lot of other people in Brighton are saying the same thing."
Williams said her payment just jumped by $100, despite not using their sprinkler system half the summer.
The City of Brighton did enact a 7 percent rate increase in January, but utilities officials state in an email to Denver7 that $100 increases in bills can often by explained by "leaks of some sort (typically within an irrigation system) which can often go unnoticed."
He also stated the number of days captured in a billing run can vary by as many as ten days from one bill to the next, which could account for discrepancies between bills. The city is asking anyone with concerns to call their utility department.
But for people like Mazur and Williams who said they are watching their lawn die to save water, the explanations aren't enough.
"Everything they've tried to explain to me hasn't made any sense to me," said Williams. "But it's a monopoly. I don't have another water company I can pay, so I kind of just have to go with what they tell me."
