(MyFoxBoston.com) -- It was a water bill that would make any homeowner cry. A Marblehead couple usually gets a higher bill this time of year because of summer and they have a pool. But this one was for more than $16,000.
FOX25's Robert Goulston talked exclusively to the homeowners who say their appeal to the town has not been easy. If this couple used $16,000 of water, a plumber says they would have to fill up and empty their pool more than 30 times.
The water coming out of the Schaye's faucet is costing them an arm and a leg, or $16,223.65 to be exact.
The Schaye's thought for sure that the Marblehead Water and Sewer Department simply made a mistake.
"They said well that's what the meter read and we're thinking how can this be possibly true?" Barbara Schaye said.
The bill says the couple and their three dogs used $100,000 gallons of water in 90 days. That's 45 gallons an hour with a total cost of more than $16,000. During that same period last year, they used 3,100 gallons or 1.3 gallons of water an hour for a total of just over $1,400.
"The town came over and they checked every single toilet, every cranny, everything and couldn't find anything wrong," Barbara said.
The Schaye's have paid the full bill so their water wouldn't be turned off. The town told them in a letter they tested the meter and it works fine. A hearing was scheduled, but the Schaye's say the town canceled and offered to settle if they paid half the bill. But $8,000 is still very high, they said.
The town is having the meter tested again.
"We just want to have a resolution that makes sense based on the fact that amount of water was so excessive that we couldn't have possibly done it," Barbara said.
FOX25 did track down the Water Department officials Thursday who say they are testing the meter again, continuing to look for leaks and they also plan to talk to the couple's plumber for more information.
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