Due to incorrectly

read water meters, a number of Peachtree City residents received higher

than normal water and sewer bills for the month of September.

The billing

irregularity is limited to just one meter reading route that serves up

to 2,200 customers, according to Tony Parrott of the Fayette County Water

System. Some of the bills were correct, Parrott noted.

The problem

occurred when the meter reader on the route misread the meters on the

low side for bills issued in August. When those meters were read again

for September's billing cycle, some customers "got a higher bill"

than they normally would have, Parrott said.

None of the

customers have been overcharged, Parrott said. The meter reader who made

the mistake has since resigned, Parrott confirmed.

"We know

he didn't read part of the route but he also read part of the route,"

Parrott said.

The billing

error also affected the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority's bills

since the Fayette County Water System bills customers for WASA since the

same water usage figures are used to calculate sewer bills.

Customers with

billing questions are urged to call the water system's customer service

line at 770-461-1146, ext. 6450.

The water system

is in the final phase of a project to install new water meters that will

eliminate the need for manual reading of each meter, Parrott said. Instead,

the new meters will broadcast the reading on a radio signal to a computer

in a passing vehicle.

The information

will be saved on the computer and later downloaded to the billing system,

Parrott said.

Once the final

phase of installations wraps up in December, all but two of the water

system's meter reading routes will be using the radio signal system to

"read" water meters, Parrott said.

The water system

plans to seek bids from companies to install approximately 1,600 more

of the devices next year, which will "finish" the system, Parrott

said.

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