Birmingham Water Works
Reviews and Complaints

Birmingham Water Works is disgustingly unreliable and fraudulent. We and our neighbors constantly deal with attempts of overcharging by double and triple amounts. The call center workers are rude and completely useless. We have personally had to deal with over charges twice in the past few months. We have proven no leaks and currently pushing back on the second billing issue because they have not correctly read the meter.

Good luck using the website to start up a service. Whoever programmed this should not have graduated, let alone be paid to develop a website. The instructions for entering an address for service and then for billing are ridiculous... I mean, how can this be hard? Like Service address: followed by Billing address. Instead. the first field is "location"... isn't this address? Then it requests number and street separately, like an iphone. But if you enter it this way, it gives you an error that number must have at least 10 characters... so if you just enter the address in the first 2 field, the website freezes and your information is lost. And, entering a deed? What about a mortgage statement? Is that OK? And this is after I called for instructions. FAIL in website design. I would give a 0 if I could...

I started service in Moody AL in March 15th 2023. On 3/21 I paid fees to start service of $163.00 and on 3/29th I paid $120.00 for a deposit. On 4/2 I received a bill of $108.49 for water and sewer. This bill is impossible, I could not move into the house until I replaced the flooring and other repairs to make it livable. The bill was for 8 days with almost no water used except for drinking. The base fees for a whole month is currently 38.91 plus water usage. Their math on the bill I downloaded and all the other bills I received besides this one are the same charging almost double what the bill adds up to. I am not disputing the water/sewer usage so far, although the CCF is doubling each month which at $2.23 per CCF is still not concerning, it is the billing that is astounding. Example the latest bill is for usage of 2 CCF so water service is $32.64 for water and $27.27 for sewer, this should be a total of $59.91. Their total is $119.59 all the bills so far are like this. Why is the bill almost double what it should be? How many people are they doing this to? What politician do I have to contact to get this resolved, this is a monopoly you can not choose your water service.

So I have major issues with Bham Water Works. It took me 4 applications to even get my service request in. The first 3 I was told were never received. I received an email confirming my request but nothing else was sent. I tried calling to check on the status for over a month & never got a call or email back. So skip time to June 7th, I come home from work and my water is off. No paper statement, call, voicemail, email, NOTHING! I had no idea I had an outstanding bill b/c I never got ANY notice from this company about anything. My landlord had this same issue before at my address, & it was BWW that had the address as Birmingham instead of Warrior. It was found that they had been sending the bills to the wrong address & they waived all the fees for their mistake. But yet, this time its apparently my fault and I'm expected to pay everything. All employees refuse to put me in contact with a supervisor. They've made the same mistake twice now. Something needs to be done.

last year (2019) complaining of leak which caused hundreds of dollars. June leak fixed. October water shut off without adjustment like i was told Last year in November i began calling about a leak. February i made a payment and spoke to a rep, I was told someone would come out. June someone came, leak got fixed. I was told an adjustment would be made to bill by looking at previous amount totals and it will be adjusted accordingly. I have waited and waited. I also spoke to someone in June who told me the process could take some time but i should see it. I have lost my job during the pandemic, have not been able to get unemployment. October 22 water shut off. I called explaining what I was told the man basically did not care told me i need half of the 1200 (which is incorrect because adjusted balance was not made on their end) to get it back on. I explained i understand but how can some of us do that when maybe half of us are unemployed. He didn't care. I called back explaining to next person and asked for a manager, needless to say i sat on hold forever and never got to speak to anyone else.

I received a letter that a meter reader read my meter once on 5/18 & again after for a high usage. That's impossible, please continue reading. After watching our local news investigate meeting reading practices of the Birmingham Water Works Board I gave them the benefit of the doubt. After receiving a letter stating my meter was read presumably on the 18th of May I find that highly unlikely. The fact is there is a broken down van parked over my meter as well as my neighbors. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has been aware of this since May 11th and a notice place on the van to be towed this Friday. Also I have my home cameras on my driveway and mailbox next to where my meter happens to be. After running the cameras back there is no meter reader present. I know people have work to do but please represent our city better than this. Granted having to collect sewer rates for a corrupt Jefferson County has the board strapped and short of resources. This behavior was never a staple until the county corruption. I am currently in New York (volunteer military medic) I have been away since April 2nd and this has to be a mistake.

During this pandemic I have seen an increase in my water bill. The consumers of Jefferson county are being ripped off BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS Since the onset of the pandemic ny sewer and water rate has increased drastically. Last year my bill was averaging between 80 and 100 dollars now I'm paying anywhere between 120 and 150 dollars. I know that they increase the rates every January and October. We the consumers of Jefferson county are paying for debt that is owed by Jefferson County. During these trying times these increases are hard to pay. The utilities are extremely high in this county . My problem is they say this is the average for my bill and I dont feel like that is true. I live in an apartment I have no known leaks but my bill is still extremely high. I'm at work all day and my elderly mother is home alone. We are not using that much of water and sewer consumption. I need some transparency with the BIRMINGHAM WATER WORKS. I have spoken to many of the water works employees but never getting any clarity . Eventhough the pandemic is still in effect Birmingham Water works has reinforced shutting off water to customers who's accounts are delinquent . I feel we are paying extra because they are trying to recover some of the lost money due to the delinquent accounts.

We are being charged 985.29 water bill. We need this to be forgiven. We did not use that amount of water. Road work on the street caused this. Account: #XXXXXXXXXXXX Bill amount: 985.29 Meter on March 3- 0 Meter on March 30th - 62 Meter on April 24 - 68- meter working correctly now. Meter was broke before this. They reiterated the 900 dollar charge is from March 3-March 30 when the meter went from 0-62. The lady I talked to on the phone said there is either a leak on their side or our side, or the meter is not working. We also talked to our friends father (he works for water works in ***) and he said there is no way two girls used forty six thousand gallons of a water in a month. He said that something had to be running all month to do this, and that either the meter is wrong, or there was an obvious leak. I checked our meter and it currently reads 67, from 62, suggesting it's working correctly and we are using a normal quantity of water. They also came by and checked that there is no leak on their end currently entering our meter. In this case, it suggests that we had a leak on our side of the meter that has now been repaired. Most likely that leak was near our meter and by the street and was related to the huge pothole, as the water filled pothole in our street is no longer filling with water now. Essentially: there was a leak. It was repaired. We cannot pay this bill. There is no way we used that amount of water and water works need to forgive this. Our landlord has check for leaks there are none on the property at this time. We have called and the landlord has called.

BWWB did not create a new service account until 6 months after service started and 3 months after house was sold. Bills are incorrect. ACCT #XXXXXXXXXXXX In August, I paid for a water loop and had it installed and connected. I did not receive a bill and every month when I went in, in person, to pay other bills, I asked about it, they kept saying account not created. At one point, I went over to customer service and got that response from there also and they didn't know what to do. House sold in Oct. and new owner couldn't change the account to her name because account still wasn't created. She tried again in November with the same result. I kept going in, in person and no one could help. In Jan, I needed another loop, so asked the lady in that department about it. She discovered somehow, after inspection by BWWB, the paperwork was not entered into the computer. Finally got an account created in Feb. When the meter was read, BWWB put all the usage onto Feb's bill. That's 6 months of water usage all at once to the tune of 800 cubic foot. I used water for 3 months and new owner for 3 months. I have been contacting BWWB by phone, by e-mail and in person to get this fixed for 4 months since they created the account and all I get is bills for the same amounts that say "corrected", but they aren't corrected. I have been dealing with this account mistake by BWWB for going on 9 months in total. I understand Covid-19 hindered a lot of work, but I just want this fixed. We haven't owned the house in over 6 months and have an outstanding bill of $300 in our name because BWWB won't fix it. I'll pay my fair share and the new home owner will pay theirs, but we need to know what our fair share is.

Had water turned on/ paid the $120.00 deposit and each bill in full and on time. Had water turned off 12/18; Still can't get deposit back. Called and had BWW cut on the water at a vacant rental house at ***, starting in May and paid the $120.00 deposit included on first bill. Assigned Account no: *** Renovations were to start on the house; however, due to contractor problems and delay in starting- no work was ever started so we decided to cut the water off on 12/18 and wait until the contractor was ready. I paid the BWW bill in full each month, on time- about $49.00+- with 0 water usage each month. I have the cancelled checks. When I called to have the water turned off, the rep said they would cut it off and mail me a final bill and the deposit and it will take about 6-8 weeks. I never rec'd another bill or the deposit. I called 3/8 and inquired about getting my deposit back and was told by Teneika? that there was a $299.26 charge on the bill and it, minus my $120.00 deposit, I owed them $111.77. I was floored and stated they must have put someone else's bill on my account and I wanted it removed and my deposit back. She said they would have to investigate it and let me know. How long? 1 -2 weeks. I never heard back, so on 4/7, I called again. Bianca said we had a partial service bill of $8.00 that we never paid, so they would have to deduct that from my deposit! I said why ? You never sent me a $8.00 bill! I've paid every bill on time in full and now they say I owe $8.00? She said I'd get the difference back of $111.00. I told her if I owed $8.00 - why wasn't I sent a bill? No answer. Didn't know. But I'd get the $111.00 ...When? In another 2-4 weeks! This is nothing but a stall, hoping to keep my deposit. It's been 4 months since I first called to have the water cut off and my deposit back. I want my $120.00 deposit refunded now.

To whom it may concern; I am a homeowner of a property located at XXXX Xth Avenue, Al XXXXX, and recently rented it out. The tenant, after three weeks, reported a water bill exceeding $1000. Suspecting a leak, I sent a maintenance worker to inspect, who found no leaks but noted a potentially faulty meter. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this with the water company, including conversations with various employees and a request to speak with a supervisor, the issue persists. The company replaced the meter cover but did not fix the underlying problem. My tenant, Mr. Brandon Black, has received high bills, one over $1000 and another for $400. I have been trying to address this since early April , with no resolution. I am filing a complaint and Mr. Black is available for further details at (XXX) XXX-XXXX between 8am and 11am.

Despite already paying a $41 establishment fee, my husband and I are being charged another $41 due to BWW mistake. Two accounts were created for the above-mentioned address, one under my name and one under my husband's name a few days later. Prior to closing on our house, my husband tried to open an account online, not realizing we had to appear in person to finalize the account set-up. On December 23, I appeared at Birmingham Water Works to finalize set-up for the account. At that time, I asked whether an account for this address had already been set-up. I was told no, so an account was created in my name. I subsequently paid the $120 surety deposit and the $41 establishment fee. It wasn't until January when my husband received his first disconnect notice that it was brought to our attention that my account had been cancelled and his had been activated. We received no communication from Birmingham Water Works stating that my account was closed. On 01/06, we called customer service and asked that the credit on my account be applied to the account open in my husband's name. We were assured it would be applied at that time. It wasn't. It wasn't until several weeks later when my husband received a final disconnect notice and I received a credit in the sum of $113.46 that we discovered this was still an ongoing issue. On 01/27, I returned to the office to have the $113.46 applied to our current account. At that time, I also asked to have the $41 establishment fee be applied to our current account as it was no fault of our own that the account paid in full had been cancelled. This amount had been paid for and deposited for the address by Birmingham Water Works. I was told the item would be forwarded to a supervisor for final approval. On 02/05, the $41 had still not been applied to our account. I called the office again and was told that the item would be forwarded to a manager for review. On 02/10, an official letter disputing the claim was sen to the company. On 02/13 the $41 had still not been applied. I called customer service again and spoke with the same representative from the week before. She was surprised this matter had not been dealt with and assured me she would submit the claim urgently. Due to the fact we had been dealing with the same issue for six weeks, I asked to speak with a manager. I was told one was not available at the time so I asked to please have a manager call me at their convenience. It has been several more days and we have still not had our issue addressed. It is now 02/17 and the $41 has still not been applied to our account. Due to the fact that we have paid this amount in full to Birmingham Water Works and it was no fault of our own the account paid in full had been cancelled, we are disputing the charge of another $41 establishment fee. We request that this charge be removed from our current account as it has already been paid. At this time, we have exhausted our options to contact the company to resolve this issue. Due to their lack of response, we have no choice but to pursue another avenue.