Savanah Valley Utility District overcharging

Moved in and first months bill was $450. Yes, we used an irrigation system but not that much. SVUD was useless in helping me figure out what was wrong. They wanted to place blame on the sewer company.  I finally gave up and paid the bill and stopped using the irrigation system. Just looked at the most rect bill and it shows it to be $147. 

Hisory will show that the highest bill ever at this residence was $70. 

At our old home using SVUD the highest bill we ever received was maybe $50. 

None of our habits have changed. Something is not right.

I signed this petition because I lived in Hixson for many years and the highest water bill I ever received (sewer charges included) was for $32. Hixson Utility District was my provider. Since moving to Ooltewah, and having Savannah Valley U. D. provide my water, my lowest bill has been around $40. This past month my bill jumped to $198...... I figured it was because I watered my postage stamp front yard 20 minutes at a time every 3 days! Since receiving that bill, I have stopped all outside watering and am very conscious of my water usage. Interested in seeing this month's bill!

Our Ag meter bill for watering our lawn has been over $600 for the past three months, which is ridiculous. We have NEVER had water bills over $100 with any water company before being on the SVUD system, despite having larger yards and irrigation systems in the past. The rates are outrageous!!!

My water bill for last month was $880!!! Turned off the irrigation system and the most recent charges were $270!!

Our water bill is ALWAYS $20-$28. Our 7/18/16 meter read/bill was $82.74. One spring several years ago, we planted new landscaping in numerous areas with many larger shrubs and plants and soaked them every several days from April through October and I think the highest water bill was $40. During this current billing period, we watered once, maybe twice and got a bill more than 3 times our normal bill.  There are only 2 of us in the house and we are always on top of not wasting water, turning off lights, recycling, etc. so when I noticed other people talking about their water bill, I knew ours was jacked up too.

Our bill went from $20/month to $80 without watering lawn, flowers or a garden and no explanation from SVUD!

I lived off Ooltewah/Ringgold Rd. for over 3 years prior to moving to Hampton Creek. Just two of us. Same habits now as then. Eastside water Bills never over $20.00. Water bills now average over $50.00 BEFORE I watered my lawn(Postage stamp)30 minutes a week.Latest bill $128.56. Also,these people are extremely rude.They have us over a barrell.This is a result of politicians allowing them to Steal from us.We are also being screwed to the wall by not being allowed to use EPB.

Our SVUD Bill has been slowly creeping up but is $90 this month. Our actual water bill is $35 with the rest being sewer and sewer maintenance fees. How is the amount of water less than the sewer cost? If I'm only putting $35 worth of water into the sewer, why is my sewer cost so much higher? Why is there a separate fee for sewer maintenance? Shouldn't sewer and maintenance be one fee? I'm curious to know if all of the construction done in the last few years has increased all of the sewer fees. Do these developers pay for the sewer lines they put in or are we, SVUD customers financing this. I need to see an actual break down of money/ cost analysis. I will not be paying bills upwards of several hundred dollars so SVUD needs to solve this problem. It's time for some competition in the water, utility and cable departments. We are getting sucked dry as a community.