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a water story

Posted By maria On February 25, 2011 @ 11:40 am In Grenada | 3 Comments

P. had been living in Grenada for over five years the day she got the first water bill.

At first, she thought it was a bookkeeping error, one that the utility would sort out on its own. But the bills continued to arrive, and she decided that even though she couldn’t possibly be the responsible party, this was a situation she could not ignore. So she called customer service, and explained her problem, that they were charging her for water even though every drop of water used by her household came from the rain that fell into her water collection tank, that she wasn’t even connected to the municipal water supply.

After much transferring and even more holding, she finally got a manager on the line, who explained that the utility had rights to all the water on the island, so they were billing her for her estimated water use. Her rain barrel, the manager insisted, was besides the point.

For a moment, P. got so angry she thought her face might spontaneously combust. But she’s a clever lady, so she thought for a moment, slowly let out a cleansing breath, and said,

“Fair enough. If you control the water, cut off the rain over my house.”

This happened about four years ago, and I’m happy to report that the sky still rains into her tank.

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3 Comments (Open | Close)

3 Comments To "a water story"

#1 Comment By wizzythestick On March 17, 2011 @ 11:49 pm

The sky still rains but more importantly is she still being billed? The same idiotic law exists here in Trinidad although I never heard it used in your friend’s context but with wells that are dug on one’s property.

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#3 Comment By maria On April 14, 2011 @ 2:44 pm

Last I heard she still got the odd bill, but she ignores them.

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