My column from the April edition of the Angie's List Magazine

Have you looked at your water bill lately? If you pull out a bill from a year ago and compare it to today, you’ll probably find that you’re paying more. Water companies nationwide are increasing rates, some by double-digit percentages.

But if you look closely, you might discover the hike’s also the result of the water company estimating your usage instead of taking actual meter readings, sometimes for months at a time.

Occasionally, meter readers can’t access a meter because of inclement weather, obstructions or dogs present when no one is home, but many water companies are also employing estimated readings as a cost-saving measure. Regardless, meters should be read with regularity and any discrepancies in billing should be adjusted accordingly. If yours isn’t, you could end up paying too much for water you don’t use or paying too little and being hit with a huge bill.

In 2008, a group of Indianapolis Waterworks customers filed a lawsuit against Veolia Water, which manages the city-owned water company, for overestimating their usage. Veolia is required by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to provide actual readings once every other month, but some customers didn’t receive one for several months at a time. According to The Indianapolis Star, the company admitted that during parts of a two-year period it relied on estimates more heavily than it should have, but the suit was recently dismissed because Veolia’s contract is with the city and not the public. Those customers are now considering suing the city’s Department of Waterworks.

There was a similar dustup in San Diego, where residents paid $1.67 million in overestimated charges, according to a 2007 study by The San Diego Union-Tribune, after the water company switched to an estimated reading system in 2003. It took as long as 18 months for customers who were overcharged to receive credits.

And overestimated bills aren’t the only problem. The Yonkers, N.Y., Water Bureau overhauled its municipal water meter system in 2008 to ensure more accurate readings after years of underestimating usage. Affected customers eventually received bills for the difference, some as high as thousands of dollars.

To determine whether your meter is being estimated, check your bill for an “E” or “EST” code. Most billing statements include a list of codes on the back to spell out the meaning of each. If your bill is being estimated, contact your water company immediately to determine why and request an accurate reading.

If you’re not getting the answers you want from your water company, contact your state utility regulatory commission or local consumer watchdog organization, such as New York City’s Coalition for Water Bill Justice.

For many consumers, paying an estimated water bill is like watching money go down the drain. Consumers should only pay for the water they’ve used. If you’ve had issues with your water company estimating your bill, tell us what happened.