Ten thousand inaccurate water meters installed across the Northern Territory in the past four years will now have to be replaced.
The meters have been giving inaccurate readings and could cost $1 million to replace.
Power and Water Corporation cited a commercial-in-confidence agreement had been reached when asked if the meter manufacturer or the government-owned agency would foot the bill. It also declined to name the manufacturer.
Palmerston fitness instructor Paula Martin noticed her meter had been replaced twice in two years.
"There was a card in the letterbox saying we're going to change the meter and there may be a change in your bill," she said.
"I figured maybe they thought it wasn't right because I'm just not using a lot of water."
Throw the baby out with the bathwater
Power and Water says 10,000 meters in this particular 'fleet' were installed between 2016 and 2018.
Water services general manager Stephen Porter said 4000 suspect meters had so far been replaced.
"To replace the (other) 6000, we're looking at somewhere between $400,000 to $500,000," Mr Porter said.
"We've identified that some of those meters may not be reading as accurately as they should be," he said.
"Further testing was undertaken and as a precautionary and proactive action we are switching that entire fleet out for new meters.
"This is our commitment to customers, that we will make every endeavour to ensure meter reads and associated bills are correct."
Testing the waters
When tested, the meters showed inaccurate readings beyond the 4 per cent error allowed by the authority.
"If we find through testing that a particular year of installation of meters isn't reading as accurately as it should … we will then go out and replace that meter fleet as well," Mr Porter said.
A new meter takes about 20 minutes to replace.
Replacement cost is not added to the customer's bill.
"By the time we buy a meter and install it, we're looking at somewhere between $90 to $100 a meter," Mr Porter said.
"Those costs are just part of our business as usual."
Power and Water cited a $2.6m bill for water meter replacement in Darwin in its 2017 annual report, and a $1.3m bill its 2018 annual report.
Ms Martin said her bill hadn't changed in the span of her three water meters.
"We're very frugal with our water. It's just me and my daughter and we (each) shower once a day," she said.
"We keep showers short and we have a water-saving shower nozzle. We water the garden twice a week.
"I had the Living Water Smart people around to talk about saving water and they said I'm doing everything right.
"I do laundry at the weekends, just the colours and then the whites and then sheets every fortnight."
Grass isn't greener
Neighbour Marcelo Alverez didn't know why his meter was being replaced about two years ago and said his bill hadn't been remarkable for his young family of three.
"At the moment it's average, it goes up a bit in the dry season because you've got to water your lawns and stuff a bit more often," he said.
"But it's not high, it's not too bad."
Mr Porter said customers should contact the corporation if they suspected a faulty meter.
