“Government offices such as the hospital and airport will be in for a shock because of the high usage that has been masked by the flat rate,” he said.
He said government rates are also the highest among CUC customers: $30 per 1,000 gallons of water for sewer, and $54.30 per 1,000 gallons for water.
There are still about 1,000 flat rate customers, but Malae said they will all be on metered service measured by the gallons by Dec. 31
“Just because you have a high water bill doesn’t necessarily mean you have a defective meter. Most of the time it is from high usage due to leaks or waste,” he said.
A water closet that leaks at the usual rate of one gallon per minute will waste 40,000 gallons per month, he added.
Glenn Dkito, who supervises the installation of electronic meters, said they recently received 7,000 meters from CUC’s vendor.
He said they have installed electronic pit pads on malfunctioning meters in As Matuis, San Roque, Tanapag, Garapan, Chalan Piao, Chalan Laolao, Oleai/San Jose, San Antonio, Koblerville, Afetnas, San Antonio, Dandan Homestead, Upper and Lower Dandan, and As Lito Road
Some of their clients have complained about the drastic change in their water billing, Dkito said.
“We try to let them understand that the flat rate is no longer seen in their actual consumption,” he added.
Malae said customers who move from flat rate to metered and who see a huge consumption because of leaks will get a credit from CUC.
“This is a first time credit because the customer will be startled to see that so much water has been wasted,” he added.
Once water consumption is under control all customers will see an improvement in service, he said.
According to Malae, CUC is shortening the billing cycle: from 60 days or more to under 45 days.
CUC’s goal is to have one billing cycle for all its customers, including government agencies, he said.
Malae said they are also considering a new management information system that will produce bills that are user friendly, showing usage in graph form, detailing the number of days billed and comparing usage to prior periods.
