UPDATED: If you haven’t paid your water bill to NJ American Water – even for just one month – you may not have water over Yom Tov. Residents tell TLS, multiple NJAW customers today had their water shut due to non-payment for one month, without a shut-off notice.
One NJAW customer tells TLS, an employee for the water company said they will be shutting off water to hundreds in Lakewood over the next 2-3 days.
UPDATE: 4:30 PM. After the above article was published, Askonim immediately contacted the Utility Advisory Board, in hopes of resolving the issue.
The following is a statement submitted to TLS by Board member Greg Stafford-Smith:
“Tha Lakewood Utility Advisory board has been in contact with officals of New Jersey American Water Company, and the non payment shut off’s have been suspended for now. Anyone who has had their service shut off should call 1-800-1652-6987, and address the status of the accounts, if possible arrangements can be made”.
According to the New Jersey American Water website:
Consumer Rights:
-You have the right to a WRITTEN NOTICE of termination, 10 days prior to the discontinuance of service.
-Residential service may be shut-off, after proper notice, Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A utility may not shut-off residential service on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or a HOLIDAY or the day before a holiday or if you have a valid medical emergency.
P.S.
For complaints, contact, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities:
1-800-624-0241
according to the bpu website you have the right to a 10 day written notification before having your water shut off. Call the bpu to complain .It works they will at a minimum refund any re-connection fees they charge and if enough people complain they will stop doing this
Just pay your bill and there is no need to worry service interuption. Its really that simple. The water bill is usually the cheapest monthly bill for your home and the most used utiliy besided electric. If you provide a service im quite sure you would want compensation for that service. How is this news?
The township has a liaison to the utilities who’s name is Mike McNeil. I heard he’s very dedicated to his job. So call him if you need immediate assistance. Anyone of the township members should have his phone number.
Can tls please post the Townships reps phone number and let all work to through them out I havent met a town in the country that pays more money then Lakewood.
Attn: Your Responsibility Says says:
You are either delusional – or ignorant.
The NJAWC is the most expensive water/sewer bill in the country. Do your research.
A MONTHLY typical bill is now approximately $240. That is more than a QUARTERLY bill in most places.
Their well rooted corruption is known as well. The Lakewood “ordinance” that bans home owners from using their own well, unless it is to far and not worth the NJAWC’s while – is a typical example.
WE NEED ANOTHER COMPETING WATER COMPANY IN THIS TOWN!!!!
2 of my neighbors had their water shut this morning with out notice, one neighbor sais they owe only one month
NJAW days in ocean county are numbered. its CEO and top execs are one foot out the door, all us residents need to do is push and these (moderated) will be unemployed!
I wonder if they r doing this cause they know we got a 3 day yom tov coming.
I gave the number for McNeil to Thelakewoodscoop. Contact them if you need it!
If u do not pay ur bill u r stealing. So they should have the right to not supply u w/ water. Try not to pay Shop-Rite & see how far y get.
Very simple
They pd up. They came back & turned it back on, the guy said they will b shutting off a lot of homes for due bills.
The township is NOT NJAWCO. recently they tried assisting residents but at the end of the day it is NOT the township that runs NJAWCO. They are their own monster company that doesn’t care about anyone.
How do we go about getting another water company in this town??
How do I know if they will shut my water??
they should be thrown out of Lakewood my water bills are insane.why doesn’t the Township investigate them
You can reduce your water bill by up to 70% by replacing toilets with the new super efficient ones which use only 1 and 1/4 gallons, available at Lowes for about $90, and by installing water savers on shower heads and fawcets for a couple of dollars.
yeah, let’s get back @ ’em, I’m niot flushing my toliet for a month!! That’ll teach ’em a lesson, they won’t make money off of me!
Just pay your bills and you wouldn’t have to worry about anything being shut off. If you don’t like the price of the service then move to a town where the utilities are not priced so high..On another note maybe the utility companies need to raise the prices because people are not paying there bills, or they also might have to raise the prices because of the size of the population of the town.
To those who could not afford the bill, why did you not contact the water company? If you had, they would surely have made some sort of payment plan or arrangements to avoid having the water shut off.
There are financial assistance programs available to help pay for your water if you cannot afford it, please inquire about them and sign up right away.
I have installed low flow, high pressure faucets, shower heads and toilets in my house. I do not let anyone run the water while brushing teeth, I soak my dishes in water to wash them, instead of having the water run for 20 minutes while scrubbing each one.
There are 4 people living in my house, and every month, we use 3,000 gallons and our bill is $26.00. Yes, we have septic, but the savings are still great.
dont want to pay for motor vehicle tickets, now dont want to pay water bills, i guess taxes are next
Lakewood does have another water company – itself – LTMUA. My water bill from LTMUA is $40.20 per quarter, sewer bill $74.50 per quarter. I am only billed quarterly. My experience has been that LTMUA responds rapidly to any reports of water/sewer problems in my development. I feel sorry for those in the portions of Lakewood that are serviced by NJAW. I’ve seen other articles on this site concerning problems with NJAW. Lakewood should look into the feasibility of having LTMUA take over these other areas.
Just know this, they are out to make money also.
Many people pay their bills on time.
Many people do not pay their bills at all and skip town, along with those who choose to pay later than sooner, so do not complain
Truth be told… says:
September 28, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Attn: Your Responsibility Says says:
You are either delusional – or ignorant.
I am neither, you are not gaining anything with insults, if your water bill averages $240 then you are either a large commercial property or you have a massive leak or you just a deadbeat who doesnt pay their bill. No way you can use that much water in a month from normal house hold use. $240 will cover 8 1/2 months of water service in my 4 bedroom home with 2 adults and three children. Pay your bill on time and if for any reason you cannot then contact the utility company and work something out.
It is very easy to avoid this. Pay your bill. We don’t need all these ridiculous comments and conspiracy theories. Yeah, the big bad water company shut off your water because they knew it was your holiday. Grow up, pay your bills on time, and find something else to whine about.
I have had my water shut off and I had paid my bill they said it was a mistake they came to the wrong house
how can we get LTMUA to take over mt development
Thank you Gregg…..for a job well done!!
To Your Responsibility Says
MY water bills are around 210 a month and from what i hear most people are that area ans i only have five kids so if someone has 8 or 10 its definitely that high so Truth be told… says: is right
Your Responsibility Says says:
September 30, 2011 at 10:40 am
Truth be told… says:
September 28, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Attn: Your Responsibility Says says:
Ignorance is not an insult, unless it represents an absence of expected basic knowledge. My apologies if you felt slighted.
If a NJAWC customer uses 12,000 gallons a month, which for a typical orthodox larger family is on the lower end, then their total water/sewer/sewertreatment bill will exceed $200 dollars a month. Look it up, check the facts.
Please bear in mind that due to the “new” (for about a year now) charge for “treating the wastewater”, or something like that, the total NJAWC bill is now a third higher than it used to be.
Fact: In Lakewood, if a homeowner wishes to use his own private well resources to supply water for his own home – it is against the law – if his well is within 100 feet of an existing NJAWC water line. The “logic” behind the ordinance is that the NJAWC is concerned that damage way occur to their pipes.
The ordinance does not, however, prohibit well usage for irrigation purposes, for example for sprinkler systems etc.
Question is then; once you can use the existing well for irrigation – why not then hook it up to your house?! The well “damage” has already been done by the mere digging of the well?
No twisted logic can answer that question, other than the following. Even the NJAWC could not prevent irrigation wells – as the outcry would be overwhelming. But with their warm connections – they still were able to accomplish the banning of home-usage well water.
Out of 100 feet from their pipes (like some farm), however, is probably something that would not necessarily worth their while to invest their pipes towards anyway. Any major development, would by law, have to supply their water lines anyway….
Yes, that’s corruption.
Its that simple.
Hey #25
You must be a Lakewood MUA customer New Jersey customers can very easily get a $300 per month water just water your lawn and fill your pool.
to #21 A few points
I find your comment very interesting.
You have a family of 4 and you pay only $26 a month for 3,000 gallons of water???
I have a family of 9 and use approximately 7,000 gallons a month (runs in sync basically with the numbers you have) and I pay $150 a month. Based on what you are saying, I should be paying like $60 why am I paying so much more?!?! true I pay sewer but it’s really all the extra “fees” the water company add as “expenses they pass on to the customers”. It’s rediculous that NJAW is able to get away with all these “extra charges”
average bill with 4 kids is 220 sewer is alot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To # 19 Smart Guy;
Not so smart. My comment was designed to be genuinely helpful. Didn’t your parents ever tell you that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit? Or, in your case, half wit?
I was at home when I got a call from NJAW on R’H and heard the message to call them. I was nervous about having water shut off, but I called them this morning, paid over the phone and no problems. Remember everyone, they base your whole year bill on the last three months of the year and they can play games with that; 33 day months, getting the last reading just before it changes so that 1005 gallons reads like 2000 gallons, etc. But overall they seem ok to me; sorry those of you who had problems.
To: Anonymous #33 –
It is very possible to have a bill that low.
If you have a septic tank, you do not pay the sewer fee.
Having a septic tank can significantly lower your monthly water bill.
The only downside is having to maintain the septic tank. If something goes wrong it is the owners responsibility to pay, not the water company or township.
I have a septic tank, and my monthly water bill is amazingly very low as well. The most I ever paid was 46 dollars, and I thought THAT was a “lot.”
But, a few years ago, the septic tank had to be replaced, and it cost me several thousands of dollars…
Attn: dnh says:
October 2, 2011 at 11:12 am
With all due respect – they are very efficient and very accommodating with various ways how to pay your bill.
Our issue, however, is the price that they are charging.
A typical middle income family pauses and sweats a bit before they open their electric bill in the summer, or their gas bill in the winter.
We, the customers of the NJAWC, sweat every time we open their bill – all year.
There is nothing like competition. Its about time that started happening here.
I paid all my bills even had a credit and had my water turned off. They were not able to explain why.
Where are all the state legislators we’ve been electing year after year? Why haven’t they ordered an investigation? There are certainly enough complaints to warrant their involvement. Why hasn’t the township committee asked the state Attorney General’s office to look into the matter? C’mon, Senator Singer, we need your help.
I just wrote a check for $120.75 for my quarterly LTMUA water bill. I thought that was high. The bills I’m hearing at over $200 for a month are outrageous. Why aren’t their customers flooding the BPU with complaints? It’s only water. In 1964 I paid $6 per quarter for my quarterly water bill.
I have a family of 11 people and pay around $225 a month using NJ American water. You just wrote a check for a quaterly bill for $120!?
We try to be careful with our usage – I guess it would be much higher otherwise. NJ American water prices are known to be very high. I don’t know of any other option, though.