Dubai: A French expat living in The Lakes has run up a water bill of over Dh22,000 in two months due to leakage caused by a broken pipe in his underground water tank.
It is not the first time Olivier has faced such a situation. Last year also, a similar leakage left him sweating with a fat water bill. “I am so fed up that I just don’t know what to do,” the frustrated Lakes resident told XPRESS.
Olivier said that on March 3 he received a letter from Dewa (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) warning him his meter reading was higher than usual and that he needed to check for any water leakages in his house.
“Lo behold, as I checked my underground water tank, I found that a pipe had broken and was causing the leak. I fixed it the same day, but the damage was already done,” said Olivier.
“Dewa usually checks my meter reading on the 23rd of every month. They notified me about an irregularity in the meter on March 3 after which I closed my water tank. By then, however, a lot of water had been wasted. As a result I was charged Dh4,746.30 for the January–February period and Dh17,586.76 for February-March.”
Olivier is seeking a full compensation of the amount from his service provider, MPlus+, which recently fixed the new water tank in his villa.
“I first went to Dewa with my bills, but they said that this was not their responsibility as they had not installed the water tank in my villa. When I contacted MPlus+, they apologised for what happened and only offered me a free service package which I refused. I have registered a complaint with them seeking a full compensation for the damage,” said Olivier.
In a statement to XPRESS on Wednesday, MPlus+ said: “At MPlus+ we believe in taking care of our customers and therefore we have agreed a partial compensation with Olivier in excess of what he has requested for any inconvenience we might have caused him and his family.”
