{"id":623125,"date":"2026-04-23T11:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623125\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:10:08","slug":"toronto-landlord-receives-32k-water-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/623125\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto landlord receives $32K water bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

The City of Toronto will soon start replacing almost a half a million \u2018water meter transmission units\u2019 after they failed prematurely. Pat Foran explains. <\/p>\n

The City of Toronto will soon start replacing 470,000 Water Meter Transmission Units (MTUs) after they failed prematurely. <\/p>\n

These battery-powered devices send water readings to the city but when they fail, bills are estimated, which has led to problems.<\/p>\n

One Toronto landlord said she recently got a shocker of a bill when the City of Toronto estimated her water consumption, sending her a \u2018catch-up\u2019 bill of $31,702 for the past three years.<\/p>\n

\"\"Weston Road 8-unit rental building An eight-unit rental building on Weston Road owned by Manjit Dhuga. <\/p>\n

Manjit Dhuga owns an eight-unit apartment building on Weston Road and said her family has owned the building for the past 30 years.<\/p>\n

After receiving her most recent water bill, she said she was shocked and confused to receive such a high bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think something is seriously wrong. Something must be seriously wrong, because this is not the bill (I should be receiving),\u201d said Dhuga.<\/p>\n

When Dhuga got her statement, she told CTV News she hired a plumber to look for leaks and said none could be found. She also contacted the Toronto water department to say it must be a mistake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something wrong with the meter or the way they are estimating their readings,\u201d Dhuga said.<\/p>\n

When CTV News reached out to the City of Toronto, a spokesperson said in a statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand how stressful it can be to receive a large utility bill, even when it reflects accurate water use. City of Toronto staff have been in touch with the multi-use property owner several times to explain the situation and offer support. The building consists of commercial properties such as a pet groomer, barbershop and hair salon, along with two residential units.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city went on to say that in this case, the water meter was working properly, \u201cbut the device that sends readings to the City failed, so the account was billed based on prior historical building consumption estimates for nearly three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Water meter transmission unit A water meter transmission unit is pictured. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a manual reading confirmed the meter\u2019s accuracy, a one-time catch-up bill was issued to account for the difference between estimated and actual use,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are continuing to work with the property owner to set up a payment plan. Toronto residents can be assured they are not charged for more water than they use, and anyone with billing concerns is encouraged to contact 311 for support.\u201d <\/p>\n

The city is about to start replacing the 470,000 MTUs over a three-year period. The failure of the devices has led to other bills being estimated and inaccurate. <\/p>\n

Dhuga, however, told CTV News she can\u2019t afford to pay such a large water bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m upset. I can\u2019t sleep and no one is listening, you know,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After CTV News contacted the city, Dhuga said someone from the water department came to the building and inspected the water meter and found there was a problem. The city decided to replace the water meter and the MTU. <\/p>\n

The City of Toronto adjusted the bill down from almost $31,702 to $12,403, which was not a perfect outcome for Dhuga, but it was a relief to have it reduced by almost $20,000. <\/p>\n

\"\"Adjusted water meter bill Dhuga The City of Toronto adjusted landlord Manjit Dhuga’s water bill down from almost $31,702 to $12,403. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is much better. I\u2019m so glad I was in touch with you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

To avoid estimated billing, you can call 311 to check your balance or report a meter reading or you can also submit a water meter reading through the City of Toronto\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Toronto will soon start replacing almost a half a million \u2018water meter transmission units\u2019 after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-623125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}