WILMINGTON, MA — Hundreds of Wilmington residents turned to Facebook on Thursday to after opening up their water bill and were shocked to see such increases in usage.
A thread on the matter in the Wilmington Community Board Page generated more than 375 comments, with residents lamenting their bill amounts, wondering if the town made errors.
“People should look closely at their water usage for this most recent quarter and compare that usage to the same quarter in 2019,” Town Manager Jeff Hull told Wilmington Apple. “This past summer was one of the driest summers on record. Many homes were keeping their lawns green, which accounts for significant water usage.”
Hull also pointed to COVID-19 as a contributing factor.
“In many cases due to COVID-19, residents spent more time at home because traveling was not encouraged,” said Hull. “More people worked from home, which meant an uptick in water usage from toilets, dishwashers, washing machines, etc.
The number of requests for pool permits has increased from past years, noted Hull, pointing to another cause for increase water usage for some homes.
Any resident with a question about their water bill can contact the Water Department at 978-658-4711 or fill out this online form.
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For anyone interested, we’ve started collecting stats to see if there’s a pattern or bigger problem may be the town can’t see. See initial results here:
http://bit.ly/WilmingtonWaterGoogle
And submit your water usage stats here: https://bit.ly/WilmingtonWater