Chicago water meter installations on hold

[Jay Garrison]

Hello,

I have an unmetered rental property in Chicago and my water bill is ridiculous. The city has put a freeze (pardon the pun) on water meter installations while they "investigate" problems with old/lead pipes. Meanwhile, everyone is getting these enormous bills. I called a plumbing contractor about paying to get a meter installed myself and was told that only the city can install them. I've contacted 311, Citizens United.. no luck. Any advice? Thanks!

[John Clark]

Only the City can install a meter. They rightfully don't want anybody screwing around with the system, installing unapproved/inaccurate meters, etc. Problem was that installing meters was supposedly adding lead to the houses water systems. City was "investigating" but I never heard what the results were.

Unmetered billing is very high. I went from unmetered to metered and save in excess of fifty percent of the unmetered bill.

Good news is that installation is free.

Check with water department as to how you get on the installation list for when they do start installing again. Also, check with your alderman as to installations and when the City will start doing them again.

And don't forget to genuflect in the direction of the plumbers' union, which made sure Chicago REQUIRED using lead service pipes even though New York City banned its use in 1946 (why didn't we do the same back then?) and lead's been a known water poison since the Roman Empire (literally).