Resolution in sight 9 months after Target 11 exposed PWSA customers' high water bills

PITTSBURGH — Nine months after Target 11's Rick Earle first reported about problems Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority customers were having with expensive water bills, a resolution appears to be in sight., a resolution appears to be in sight.

Customers got bills stating that they owed hundreds - and in some cases thousands - of dollars, In Millvale, customers were getting no bills at all.

It turned out the problems were the fault of a switch to newly installed remote meters.

“We have come very close to marrying the two systems, including almost 100 percent installations at residential properties,” PWSA Interim Executive Director David Donahoe said during a news conference Friday.

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In Millvale, customers were getting no bills at all. Donahoe said PWSA has resolved the problem.

"We resurrected that, established a payment plan for those customers and that billing started in May and has gone through two normal cycles,” Donahoe said.

But all of the issues have not been resolved. A problem still exists in the South Hills, where PWSA bills are not for water but for sewage. A communication issue has prevented customers there from getting bills, but they will soon and the amounts will be substantial.

“Because we have not billed them for a period of time, these bills will include what's called a special payment arrangement, which is sort of a monthly installment,” Donahoe said.

With a new director and new call center management, the PWSA believes everything will be back on track in the next six months. Until then, they’re continuing to apologize to customers impacted.

"I've worked my hardest to get this thing back up and going, but they certainly deserve an apology,” Donahoe said.

Part of the PWSA’s improvement plan is still in the works, including a change to the way customers can appeal their bills that would no longer require them to come sit in-person in front of a board.

Cox Media Group