A Winnipeg woman whose water was shut off over an unpaid bill at a home she never lived in will see those charges reversed and an apology from city staff.

"The staff have indicated that they have apologized," said water and waste committee chair Coun. Brian Mayes at city council Wednesday.

"They feel they should have elevated this within the water and waste department to try and deal with it.

"Unfortunate matter — we have apologized, the city has apologized to the account holder, or soon will be [apologizing] and the charges will be reversed."

'Institutional madness'

Marilyn Simon and her two children returned to her River Heights home after an appointment last Thursday morning and found the water at her residence turned off. When she contacted city staff, she was told the water at her home was turned off because of an outstanding bill at a property her ex-husband used to live at.

Simon and her husband are separated and he hasn't lived at the River Heights home for three years, but his name is still on the title.

He no longer lives at the address connected with the outstanding bill, Simon said, and she never lived there.

Simon's water was shut off Thursday morning. She had to pay $751 to have it turned back on later that night. (Wendy Buelow/CBC)

Asking what she needed to do to get her water turned back on, Simon said she was told she'd need to pay the bill in full, plus a $107 re-hookup fee.

"I said 'Well, OK, what is owing?' And [a city staff member] said 'I cannot tell you that because the bill isn't in your name," Simon told CBC last week.

"At this point I was absolutely bewildered by the institutional madness that I was encountering," said Simon.

Simon was eventually told the outstanding amount was $644, plus the $107 fee to turn it back on. Scrounging up the money from family and friends, she was told she could pay the bill but city staff refused to tell her the account number or address of the property connected with the outstanding bill — again, because her name was not on the bill.

City hall runaround

Simon went to City Hall in person to pay and was once again told because she didn't know the account number or the address, they couldn't take her money.

"I [was] running into the same institutional logic," she said, adding she was instructed to call someone at water and waste.

"And I'm just, at this point, sobbing in the main hallway of City Hall. I broke down in tears," she said.

Eventually, she was allowed to pay the bill and her water was turned back on Thursday night.

City staffers told her several times they did their due diligence attempting to contact the account holder, but Simon didn't accept that explanation.

"Look, you guys didn't do your due diligence here. I am the resident of this property, I do pay my water bill at this property, and you guys shut off my water without any notification to me," said Simon.

In a text message sent to CBC early Wednesday afternoon, Simon said she had yet to hear from city staffers.

Mayes called the whole situation unfortunate.

"It was a unique situation. They followed the policy, but it was a unique situation where the person had moved out, but their name hadn't been reversed, so I'm advised that staff say they will be reversing the charge and the connection fee and they will be updating the account details."