The municipality replaced my water meter without notifying me and I only just noticed (the new meter was zeroed and my consumption has since ticked up accordingly), but now my account still reflects the old meter readings (which has not changed). I only noticed a few months later (e.g. old meter's reading = 6893; new meter = 312.

How do I go about rectifying this issue? I'm scared that if I simply submit the new meter reading, they might calculate the difference from the old meter reading up to the new one and I end up with an enormous (wrong) bill.

I would appreciate any help or insight thanks

You don't say where you live.

In Johannesburg I get opening and closing readings with a date, and they also include the serial number of the meter. I also find that they tend to bill 30 to 60 days in arrears. EG my statement at the beginning of December actually billed me for water consumed from early October to early November.

If you in CoJ, this happened to me 2013/2014, but probably applicable to other metros.

Was difficulty to get CoJ to reverse charges.
Seemed to be a scam to switch meter numbers.

Prior to the "mistake" I did not pay much attention to my CoJ statement as long as the amounts were similar month-to-month.
Suddenly I received a bill for R8,949.90 for water with subsequent high readings resulting R3,121.32 over payment.

1) 2013-04 Meter number disappeared from my account
2) 2013-04 to 2014-02 CoJ estimating my water readings (similar amounts every month, but not same)
3) 2014-02-CoJ replace the meter
The old meter was fine and did not need replacing (see 'c' below)
CoJ could not reconcile since someone on the inside had removed the meter from my account.
4) 2014-02 to 2014-08 high readings
I started complaining and investigating, went to the metro multiple times.
I then noticed that the new meter number was different from the meter number in the ground.
I sent them photos of the new meter (with number).
They had an "open day" and I went in and someone eventually took my evidence and resolved the issues.

Solution:
a) Get the job card from the water department for the meter replacement
b) Get a copy of the meter readers records (this is a separate company that reads meters on contract to CoJ)
c) Check that the meter number on your statement is the same as the new meter number in the ground
In my case my statement meter number did not correspond with what was in the ground.
I was paying for a small business, and they were paying my bill - "just an honest mistake".
5) 2014-10 Resolved in my favor - took about 8 months to fix.

Today for CoJ you can submit meter readings yourself via https://www.e-joburg.org.za/

Edited December 27, 20222 yr by system32

I highly recommend submitting monthly readings to Johannesburg Water via their e-services website it works quite well and they send me an email reminder when the submit window is open.

Has anyone been charged a fee by CoJ to replace old or faulty water meters? I'd like to know if there is a cost involved.