LA Man Faces $10,000 Water Bill, Blames Nearby Fire Hydrant Repairs

When Joshua Ward opened his latest water statement, he stared at the numbers for a few seconds – then stared again, wondering if the printer had jammed. $10,395 for a single billing period is not something you see on a routine bill, especially for a family that has lived in the same Sunland home for two generations.

Ward, a licensed plumber, says the shock came after the city’s water crews were in the neighborhood last spring fixing a fire hydrant on Wornom Avenue. Neighbors recall water being shut off a handful of times while the hydrant was moved farther up the street, and they heard a strange hiss from the pipes.

“They did the repairs as per procedure, but they’re supposed to purge the line of all the air,” Ward told FOX 11. “I heard weird noises coming out of the faucets – it wasn’t just water flowing, it sounded like air.”

In plumbing speak, air in the line can make a mechanical water meter spin far faster than water does, because the meter measures volume, not the substance moving through it. “Air will spin your meter at a very rapid rate compared to how water goes through,” Ward explained. “If they didn’t purge it, the meter could have logged thousands of gallons that weren’t actually used.”

The $10,395 charge dwarfs Ward’s usual bills – last summer his water usage averaged about $1,400, and in the months before the surge his statements were in the $600‑$800 range. A few other households on the block reported higher‑than‑usual bills after the hydrant work, but none saw a figure that high.

City officials have not yet issued a formal response to Ward’s complaint, but the episode arrives amid a broader conversation about California’s soaring utility costs. A recent analysis placed the state’s electricity prices at more than double the national average, and water rates have climbed steadily.

Mayor Karen Bass, seeking to ease the burden on residents, ordered the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to halt shutoffs for anyone unable to pay their bills for the rest of the year. “No LADWP customer who is unable to pay their residential bill will have their electricity or water turned off for the remainder of this year,” she said in a statement.

For now, Ward is waiting for the water department to review the meter data and, if warranted, adjust the bill. He says he’s not looking for a free ride – just a clear explanation of how a fire hydrant repair could possibly generate a ten‑thousand‑dollar water charge.