The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

5| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,O ctober 11,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca Store Made Stuffed Rolled RibS Reg. $4.99 lb. $4.49 lb. Store Made 4 oz. bReaded PoRk Schnitzel Reg. $1.50 ea. $1.25 ea. If supporting LOCAL FARM FAMILIES and their fresh food is important to you, try Stemmler's award winning LOCAL meats, cheese, produce and baked goods! Fresh "locally Made" SaueRkRaut Reg. $2.69 lb.$2.29 lb. Fresh long PigtailS Reg. $3.29 lb.$2.79 lb. "Locally Made" cabbage RollS (Pkg. of 4) Reg. $5.49 lb.$4.99 lb. "Locally Made" cabbage RollS (tRay of 16) Reg. $4.99 lb.$4.49 lb. Store Made RegulaR oR hot PePPeRStix (24 Pc.) Reg. $8.99 lb.$7.99 lb. Store Made Sliced RoaSt tuRkey bReaSt Reg. $8.99 lb.$7.99 lb. Fresh local chicken legS Reg. $1.79 lb.$1.29 lb. october 9 - october 13, 2018 3031 lobsinger line, heidelberg 519-699-4590Mon.-Wed. 8-6; thurs.-fri. 8-8; Sat. 7:30-5 Store Made PRecooked oktobeRfeSt SauSageS Reg. $3.99 lb. $2.99 lb. 85 BRIDGEPORT RD. E. WATERLOO (Across from the Bridgeport Rd. Plaza) Since 1971 519-893-8118 MON., TUES., WED. 10 AM - 6 PM THURS., FRI. 10 AM - 8 PM SATURDAY 9 AM - 5 PM SUNDAY 12 PM - 4 PM Furniture & Mattresses Since 1971 LOFTY IDEAS FOr SMALL SPACES NEED HELP DOWNSIZING? DISCOvEr Our CLASSIC, CONTEMPOrArY AND TrANSITIONAL STYLES FOr ANY SIZE SPACE • Free Blood Glucose Monitor & Teaching • Free Blood Pressure Check • Compounding Friendly Professional Team... where your total health is our goal! hours Mon.-Fri. 9am-7pm • Sat. 9am-4pm 519-747-0320 373 Bridge St. Waterloo www.thpharmacy.com will reflect this high read- ing," read part of the letter. The letter did not go into specifics about how much was used. Five days later, on Sept. 18, she received the bill. Congi later found out that a city-hired contrac- tors came to read the meter on Aug. 24, noticing that it was high. On Sept. 6, it was read again to verify the high reading. That timeline means there was a lag of about 20 days between the first reading of abnormally high usage to the family ac- tually being notified. At about $59 per day in costs, those 20 days could have saved the family as much as $1,178 if they were able to fix the problem immediate- ly. "I expected them to tell me the moment they no- ticed it was wrong and they didn't," said Congi. Congi's husband, Franco, called the city to com- plain about the bill and state their case. They said the city told them the only thing they could do was put the family on a payment plan where they would pay an extra $300 per month until it was all paid off. Congi said she's OK with paying for some of the bill, but because she was notified so long after it was first discovered, she be- lieves the city should re- verse at least some of the charges. The total water usage for the month was 845 cu- bic metres, equalling 845,000 litres. The family of three's normal water usage is about 20 cubic metres, equalling 2,000 litres. According to the City of Waterloo, the lag time be- tween initial reading and notification of the custom- er is normal at about two or three weeks. NEWS CITY SAYS NO DISCOUNT Continued from front THE ISSUE: THERE IS A LAG BETWEEN DISCOVERY AND NOTIFICATION OF HIGH WATER USAGE LOCAL IMPACT: THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANYBODY STORY BEHIND THE STORY Ashley Congi contacted the Chronicle about this issue, aiming to warn others.