RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - An ongoing conversation about water bills in the City of Richmond is taking place on the NextDoor site, between residents near the Willow Lawn area. Many of them have seen increases in their bills is high as $300 and have been reaching out to the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities.



"I did call the city, they sent out a worker who came and did a very thorough search, he checked every toilet, every shower,

every faucet," said Richmond resident Mary Williams. "He could not find a leak."



Williams says she even called a plumber who found nothing significant enough for her bill to be as high as it is for the month of December.



"It was a public utilities bill and it was $705 normally I pay about $250 to at the most in the winter when it gets cold, $350 so it really caught my eye," explained Williams.



There is also a difference of almost $370, after she did a comparison of her December 2015 bill and December 2016 bill.



Williams found out through looking online, that others including Frances Herrington have been experiencing the same issue. On the NextDoor, a conversation began after someone posed the following question: "Did anyone else see a remarkable increase in your public utilities bill this month? Our was such an increase that the city is sending a worker to check for water leaks. We think it was just a misread on the meter…hoping."



Herrington is wondering if the same happened to her family, and says comments from others in the same predicament have been pouring in.



Herrington says her families public utilities bill for the month of December is 1/3 of what it was in November 2016.



"The December bill, which is due, I believe January 6th is $1000, " explained Herrington. "Which is much more than what we pay month to month."



Herrington says they have had issues with high water bills in the past, but this time, they are digging deeper, working with the city in the hopes of finding a solution, and explanation for her monthly bill.



My husband is working with someone in the city to look at our account because they believe we have been overcharged dating back

to 2014, and possibly to 2006," said Herrington.