Unusually high water bill? Dubai authority has the solution

Dubai: Any undetected water leak can cause your utility bill to run in the thousands or even tens of thousands of dirhams.

But the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has a smart solution to the problem. Dewa will now instantly alert residents of a possible water leak within their premises, so the problem can be fixed immediately.

This issue has plagued some neighbourhoods in Dubai, such as in Jumeirah Village Triangle where some residents had detailed on social media how they got the shock of their lives after seeing their utility bills skyrocket due to undetected leaks.

Dewa has repeatedly reminded residents to regularly check their premises for any leakage, as leaks after the meter are the consumer’s responsibility. It also sends regular alerts to consumers should their utility bills reflect an unusual increase in usage.

A leaking toilet, for example, could be wasting about 200 gallons of water every day. This would be like flushing the toilet more than 50 times without using it.

To help consumers even further, Dewa will now send the instant ‘High Water Usage Alert’ to consumers with smart meters for free.

The service is made available for all premises types with smart meters, such as residential, commercial and industrial. All water meters in Dubai will be replaced by smart water meters by 2020.

How it works

■ An alert will be sent once a resident’s smart meter continuously records consumption — for a minimum of 48 hours — that is substantially higher than his or her average daily water consumption during the last three months 

■ The alert will be automatically sent from Dewa to the resident’s registered contact details such as email, mobile number, or through the Dewa smart app.

■ If the potential leak is not fixed and the unusually high usage continues, Dewa will continue to alert the consumer every 15 days, for a period up to three months.

■ If no action is taken, the ‘High Water Usage level’ will be considered the resident’s usual water consumption level and no alerts will be sent anymore.

■ Although there is no 100 per cent guarantee that every leak will be detected, the service is a courtesy provided by Dewa to its customers, a Dewa primer obtained by Gulf News read.

Update contact info

■ Residents have been advised to make sure that their contact information with Dewa is updated in order to receive the alerts.

■ To update their information, visit www.dewa.gov.ae/update.