Amy Strudwick is one of many Regina residents who had a new water meter installed, on account of the city’s upgrade project. However, she is also one of growing number of residents who’ve noticed some significant discrepancies in their water bills since the installation.
“[The city] had told me that a high usage event is what they called it, occurred in November of 2024. So, one month after I got the meter and, that high use event was approximately 67,000 liters of water registering on my meter over a period of four days,” she explained.
“So that’s an equivalent to 447 baths.”
Strudwick paid the extra $560 on her water bill – but continued to seek an explanation for the charge.
“They did agree that the usage was super unusual, but they didn’t have any explanation for it, and there was nothing really else that they could do within their scope of responsibility,” Strudwick continued.
“That was the last that I heard of anybody from the city, which was in September of 2024, and I’ve been trying to get an answer since.”
The homeowner was curious to learn if others in Regina had experienced any similar issues since the installation of the new water meters.
She ended up creating a Facebook group which quickly answered that question.
“I thought, I’ll just create this group, we’ll bring together a few residents having some common issues, and we can work together with the city and come to a meaningful resolution and that didn’t happen,” she said.
“But what did happen was that the group blew up overnight.”
The group, called Regina Water Meter Accuracy Alliance, now has over 1,300 members, many of whom shared similar experiences with their new water meter.
Another thing the group members have in common? A lack of explanation from the city.
“Lots of people have expressed similar issues as mine where they’ve had super high-water bills,” Strudwick said. “When I say high water bills, I’m not meaning $10 or $20. I’m talking $500, $600, $700 and $800.”
In a statement to CTV News, the City of Regina explained that almost 97 per cent of water meters in the city have been upgraded.
“The City has upgraded more than 76,000 water meter and it is finding significant improvements in billing accuracy and enhanced water usage insights for residents,” the statement read.
“The new meters accuracy is due, in part, to meeting strict third-party standards and being factory-calibrated and certified by the manufacturer before installation.”
For Strudwick, it’s not about the bill, but rather an explanation for the issue.
“I’ve paid my bill. I never once asked for money back or even to have a meter replaced ... all that I’m really asking for, which I think is super reasonable, is for the city to just get curious and recognize that just because an explanation isn’t immediately obvious doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem,” she said.
According to Strudwick, there is a growing sense of frustration among those in the group. While the problem began with a water bill, it has now highlighted concerns with the City’s dispute resolution process.
The homeowner shared that she has noticed several areas in which the process could be improved.
“Stop promoting a dispute resolution process that doesn’t exist. Develop a transparent and accessible process for disputing these sudden and severe spikes in usage, which leads to significant, increase in bills. Stop relying on a process that encourages people to just give up, which is what I’m experiencing right now,” Strudwick outlined.
“Stop using their position of power to place residents in an unfair and impossible situation, which is us having to prove that we did not use the water that we were billed for.”
Many of those in the group have shared that they do not plan on scheduling an installation of the new meters.
“I think [what] was once a small problem that could have probably really been easily handled, has now grown, and now there’s a whole group of people that don’t have the meter yet that have chosen to delay install because they’re not feeling reassured by the city that this isn’t going to happen to them,” Strudwick added.
In its statement, the City of Regina noted that the installation of new water meter is mandatory and failure to upgrade could result in residents having their water cut off.
“The upgrade to the newer water meter technology is mandatory, as the old meter are at the end of service life and accuracy is declining,” the city explained.
“These new meters are essential to ensure reliable and precise measurement of water use for all water utility customers across the city. For this reason, refusal to upgrade may result in service disconnection.”
