A 75-YEAR-OLD veteran is being slugged with an expensive rates bill after finding a concealed leak on his four-hectare Alexandra Hills property.
Alistair Fraser and his wife owe Redland City Council more than $10,000 for the pipe leak, which a plumber estimated had been spilling about a litre of water per minute.
The couple will have to pay up, as council offers refunds only on its charges and not state government bulk water costs, the latter of which makes up almost 84 per cent of rates water charges.
This is at odds with concealed leak policies in other local government areas, with Gold Coast council offering a remission up to 50 per cent on state bulk water charges.
Mr Fraser - who is undergoing cancer treatment - said it was unreasonable to expect someone to find a leak on a four hectare property, and it was only by sheer luck that the couple had stumbled upon the issue when they did.
They were sent a letter from council alerting them to their excess water usage about five days after the leak was fixed.
A council spokeswoman said property owners were notified when meter readings were greater than 300 litres per day and there had been a 40 per cent increase in total consumption on the previous reading.
"This is a council initiative to raise customer awareness of a potential leak and not a requirement of legislation," she said.
The couple did not notice there was an issue because the busted pipe was near a dam and had been leaking during heavy rain.
"Loads of providers give you 80 or 90 per cent back if it is a leak, so I eventually went to council and councillor (Rowanne) McKenzie," Mr Fraser said.
"I said 'surely you don't think it is reasonable for a 75-year-old person to find a leak in the middle of bush'. It is just impossible.
"I just find it strange that all other councils through their supplier pay you 60, 80 or 90 per cent off a major leak, but our council says no."
Capalaba MP Don Brown said Redland had the worst concealed leak policy of all south-east councils and every quarter there were people who could not cover rates bills.
"It is clear Redland City Council could do more, like other council retailers do for their residents," he said.
"Concealed leaks are normally no one's fault and very hard to pick up sometimes. They can also happen to anyone, rich or poor."
A council spokeswoman said council had been calling on the state government to put in place a reimbursement policy for bulk water costs since 2018.
She said council was already offering an 80 per cent remission on its distribution and retail water consumption charge.
"Council will not provide a remission on the state government's bulk water consumption charge," she said.
" ... If a leak is detected it is the property owner's responsibility to fix it as soon as possible to prevent further water loss."
Mr Fraser said he wanted an 80 per cent refund for the charge caused by the leak.
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