Gym owner hit with €18,000 water bill

An angry Ratoath gym owner whose water was cut off after refusing to pay an “extortionate” bill says the massive hike in charges could shut down his business.

Ronnie Walsh says he couldn’t believe his eyes when he received a commercial half yearly water bill for his premises from Uisce Eireann in November 2022 for an eye-watering €18,000, an almost €17,000 increase from the bill he received a year previously for €1,080.

The gym, in the heart of the village has a modest wash room facility according to the owner of Ronnie Walsh Physical Fitness making it “impossible” to tally up a bill of that nature.

Ronnie is adamant a system error is responsible for the rocketing increase but says Uisce Eireann have refused to look into the situation leaving his business in limbo.

“We run a small fitness studio and the toilet usage is quite low, there is one toilet, one sink and that is all we have,” said Ronnie. “The bill I have been issued is not in line with our water usage,” he added.

“It’s frustrating because I have nowhere to go.

“I can't turn around and say ‘fine, I won't use Uisce Eireann anymore’. We don't have another company, they have the monopoly, it feels like I'm being bullied into paying this bill that I did not wrack up.

“They are telling me the only way I can move forward is by paying the bill but that would close my business.

“The water is off half the time in Ratoath so how could amount that much usage anyway?”

The Ratoath business owner says despite numerous phone calls to Uisce Eireann to resolve the situation, he has got “nowhere.”

“Back in November 2022, they sent out a bill and the water they said I’d used was 4,000 cubic litres and the bill amounted to €18,000,” said Ronnie.

“The previous bills were estimated at about €1,000 so it made no sense whatsoever and I was convinced it was a typo,” he added.

“When I contacted them I was asked to check for leaks so I turned off the water for a couple of hours to see if the metre had changed and it hadn’t so it was confirmed that there was no leak obvious there.

“The next step then was to take an average usage so I took a reading on the Thursday one week and I rang them the following week with the average reading and again no major usage so there didn’t seem to be anything supporting the high level of usage they were suggesting.

“One of the issues is that on the back of the bill there was an estimated reading of 705 units and there is an actual reading of 5,705. Somewhere along the way I think there was a faulty reading that changed the numbers on the system that altered the estimated reading to the actual reading so that seems to be where the big number came from.”

Ronnie says that although Uisce Eireann refused to visit the Ratoath premises to meet with the gym owner to find a resolution they made a number of calls to ensure his water was cut off.

“I begged and begged but they said they couldn’t send someone out until I issued more metre readings but I felt like I was being fobbed off at that stage,” he said.

“Eventually someone called out to say I was at risk at being cut off, then one day in October 2023 there was no water in the tap and there was a letter in the post box saying someone had been out and they had cut me off.

“Not long after they replaced the metre with a red cap and completely took the metre out.

“Not one person was willing to look at the bill to see if something was wrong and try to help but they were happy to send someone out on three different occasions to switch off the water.

“And to add insult to injury I have been charged €500 for the pleasure of cutting my water off, with an additional fee of €500 to reconnect it.”

The gym is managing to operate without a supply water temporarily but it is not ideal as Ronnie explains:

'We can get a slow flush of water in the urinals by using top ups of water but that's about it. We are running a gym and we are highlighting the importance of cleanliness and not spreading viruses in flu season yet the only facilities we have for washing hands has been taken away unjustly.”

A spokesperson for Uisce Eireann said:

"Uisce Éireann does not comment on individual customer accounts but please be assured we are committed to working with customers who are experiencing difficulties in paying their water bills.

"Uisce Éireann operates a collections service which contacts non-domestic customers in the event of non-payment within specified credit terms. In the event of non-payment, we endeavour to make contact (in line with CRU regulations) via numerous channels and seek engagement regarding the debt overdue.

"Uisce Éireann looks to work with customers in respect of their debt and offer payment plans and various payment methods to assist them with clearing their arrears in a feasible time frame.

"Disconnections are only pursued as a last resort when all other methods of arrears repayment have been exhausted.

"Any customers who have difficulties paying their bills are encouraged to contact Uisce Éireann as soon as possible and we will work with them to agree on an appropriate payment plan. All engagement with our customers in in line with our customer code of practice."