Dh20,000 water bill.. Dubai residents shocked by exorbitant water bills amid vacation absences
Damac Properties has issued an alert to the inhabitants of Damac Hills 2 advising them to take precautionary steps, especially when on vacation, in response to recent occurrences of inflated water bills.
The directive emphasizes the importance of closing water valves, electric breakers, and gas valves to mitigate the risk of escalating bills. This warning is a result of several unfortunate incidents where residents received shockingly high water bills, some of which reached Dh17,000. One such case involves British resident Peter Spencer, who received a bill totaling Dh4,327 for water consumption during his vacation.
A villa resident named Spencer was shocked to see such a large disparity in water use; between December 26 and December 31, his meter showed an unusual use of 80,000 gallons—a five-day period.
Similarly, another resident, David Richard Spours, encountered a similar ordeal, returning from a summer break to a Dewa bill amounting to Dh20,179, with a significant portion attributed to water usage from a leak in his garden during his absence.
Residents of Damac Hills 2 have voiced their worries about water leakage on numerous community forums, including F Abdulla, Mina Naguib S Manerker, W Batidjia, and others. Spencer thinks the pipe may have cracked due to too high pressure, which is more than what is authorized for home water meters according to Dewa's recommendations.
Damac clarified that they promptly responded to Spencer's issue upon being contacted on December 31, dispatching their Emergency Facilities Management Team to address the malfunction in the float valve. However, as Spencer's Damac warranty had expired, they advised him to seek assistance from a third-party contractor to resolve the issue.
Damac reiterated their commitment to regularly communicating with residents, reminding them of the importance of annual maintenance and precautionary measures before vacations. Regarding David Richard Spour's case, Damac clarified that the issue was related to Dewa and not them.
Dewa, on the other hand, stated that they had alerted Spour twice and provided evidence of notifications sent to him. They emphasized that their responsibility extends only up to the water meter, with customers being accountable for any consumption recorded, whether from usage or leakage.
