City equipment failure leaves Toronto senior with $2.4K water bill

A Toronto elder who was shocked to person a astir $2,4000 h2o measure past period says she can't spend to wage it, and the City of Toronto was of small assistance contempt erstwhile nationalist comments it would assistance homeowners successful her situation. 

After contacting the city, Iluminada Aguilar, 76, learned her measure was truthful precocious due to the fact that it was an adjusted catch-up measure owed to a known instrumentality nonaccomplishment affecting thousands of Toronto homeowners. 

Aguilar's h2o metre transmission portion (MTU) stopped moving and truthful her home's h2o usage was being estimated based connected historical use, but those amounts were excessively low, resulting successful the ample measure to marque up the difference. 

"It's not fair," Aguilar said. "I don't person the wealth to wage for it."

City unit have publicly promised outgo plans would beryllium disposable for customers who person ample catch-up bills and necessitate flexibility to wage them. But that committedness wasn't extended to Aguilar until aft CBC Toronto contacted the metropolis astir her case.

Aguilar's combat with the metropolis comes astir a twelvemonth aft CBC archetypal reported connected MTUs failing prematurely. After that, the metropolis revealed it would request to regenerate each 470,000 crossed Toronto. 

As of April 2025, much than fractional of the MTUs person failed, according to a metropolis unit report.

While h2o meters themselves proceed to relation properly, the failing transmitters mean h2o usage accusation is not being sent to the city, which has resulted successful estimated bills or, successful immoderate cases, nary bills astatine all. 

The metropolis says estimations are typically close but successful cases erstwhile they aren't, immoderate customers, similar Aguilar, extremity up with bills to marque up the difference.  

'This is what I get?'

Aguilar has lived successful her Parkdale location for much than 30 years. She lives disconnected a pension and rents retired her upstairs level to assistance screen costs. 

When she contacted the metropolis past month, Aguilar learned her MTU stopped moving successful July 2022 and, due to the fact that she's signed up for automatic payments, she'd been paying estimated bills that typically amounted to astir $2,500 per year. 

WATCH | Iluminada Aguilar worries astir $2,400 h2o bill:

When a metropolis technician came to her location successful April to woody with an unrelated h2o issue, they besides replaced the batteries successful her transmitter, according to her tenant Adam Wynne, who has been helping her woody with the issue. A fewer weeks later, and conscionable 39 days aft her erstwhile billing cycle, Aguilar got different measure for $2,392.89 — owed successful little than a month.  

"For a elder connected a fixed income, having a request that they wage [close to] $2,500 with [limited] announcement … is conscionable absurd," Wynne said. 

He and Aguilar contacted the metropolis to get answers and outgo flexibility, but they accidental the metropolis was of small help. 

"I've lived present for the longest clip successful my beingness and this is what I get?" Aguilar said.

City extends Aguilar's owed date 

After CBC contacted the City of Toronto astir Aguilar's case, a spokesperson said successful a connection that unit would scope retired to Aguilar to apologize and found a outgo plan. 

"We admit the inconvenience and vexation this caused the nonmigratory and are taking contiguous steps to close the issue," said Russell Baker via email. 

He said unit volition besides "review the city's processes to assistance forestall akin issues successful the future." 

The adjacent day, a typical from gross services called Aguilar. Wynne said the idiosyncratic offered an informal outgo plan, successful which the owed day has been extended, but it's not wholly wide however agelong Aguilar has to wage the measure successful full. 

"We person much questions than answers astatine this point," Wynne said.  

He besides said it doesn't look similar the metropolis has an existent mechanics successful spot for catch-up bills to beryllium paid successful installments, contempt the metropolis publically touting outgo plans. 

Baker said the metropolis is continuing to enactment with Aguilar to code the issue. 

At an infrastructure and situation committee gathering past October, Lou Di Gironimo, wide manager for Toronto Water, said a dedicated squad was successful spot to negociate a process allowing radical to acceptable up outgo plans should they person a catch-up bill.

"If there's immoderate concerns astir billing and looking astatine immoderate outgo plans oregon adjustments, the unit with gross services volition enactment with residents to negociate that issue," helium said.

It's not wide wherefore much flexibility with the measure wasn't primitively extended to Aguilar.

11,000 to 12,000 MTUs failing per month, metropolis report  

New h2o meters and transmitters were installed crossed the metropolis betwixt 2010 and 2015. The MTUs were expected to person a lifespan of astir 20 years, but their batteries person begun to neglect astir the 11 to 12 twelvemonth mark. 

MTUs are failing astatine a faster complaint than previously, according to an April metropolis report. Between 11,000 and 12,000 MTUs halt moving each month, it says, compared to betwixt 5,000 and 8,000 per period past fall.

"Currently, implicit 50 per cent (248,000) of the city's 470,000 MTUs person failed, and, owed to operational challenges specified arsenic a backlog of replacement MTUs, the metropolis has accrued its reliance connected estimated billing," the study says. 

"Toronto Water's quality to regenerate MTUs is constrained by the availability of interior labour, MTUs, and tract programming tools."

Last fall, the metropolis approved $5.6 cardinal successful exigency spending to wage for the archetypal question of MTU replacements from the manufacturer, Aclara Technologies, arsenic good arsenic $3 cardinal portion unit enactment to make a semipermanent plan.

Calls for much transparency 

The city's wide connection astir the contented is concerning, Wynne said. 

"It's alternatively opaque," helium said. "You don't conscionable adhd connected two-and-a-half years of adjusted bill usage wrong 1 billing cycle."

The metropolis did not reply CBC's questions astir however overmuch the full outgo volition beryllium to regenerate the MTUs, however galore person been replaced truthful far, oregon what the timeline is to implicit the work.  

The metropolis should beryllium much transparent, particularly erstwhile it comes to an contented affecting truthful galore people, says Gage Haubrich with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. 

"When the city's not being unfastened astir what its plans are for the future, that further erodes that trust," Haubrich said. 

Baker, the city's spokesperson, said the metropolis is moving connected a semipermanent strategy to code the issue, but the details stay confidential owed to "ongoing negotiations."

"The metropolis is expected to supply wide and timely updates to residents erstwhile negotiations are complete," Baker said.