Water Employees Caught Cheating Meters In Cleveland

Several workers from Cleveland’s water division used the knowledge they gained at work to cheat their employer by lowering their personal meter readings.

Four people were fired after the department reviewed the accounts of department employees, according to News Net 5.

Robert Davis, director of the Cleveland Water Division, weighed in, per Cleveland 19: "It's disheartening. We hold our employees to a standard of transparency and accountability."

"Our first alliance is with our ratepayer. We are very happy that we were able to take a proactive approach to this," he added.

One of the employees was “so daring,” according to the report, that they lowered their meter reading to zero.

Meter technology helped the city catch the cheating employees.

“The City is now using high tech gear called Automated Meter Reading or AMR to track down abusers of the system. AMR detects a lot, including lack of consumption and tiny so-called leaks at your home,” Cleveland 19 reported.

Paula Morrison, a spokesperson for Cleveland Water, weighed in.

“One of the key features of the automated meter reading (AMR) system is that it allows us to more readily identify people who have tampered with their meter via automatic alerts which let us know there may be an issue that we need to investigate," she said, per News Net 5.

The former employees could face hefty fines.

“If you're caught bypassing your water meter, it's a $1,000 fine for the first offense. The second time, it's $1,500, and if they catch you a third time it's a whopping $2,500 fine,” Cleveland 19 reported.

“Anyone caught tampering with meters will have water service disconnected and they will be required to pay the tampering fee, any past due balances, and costs associated with the stolen water before service is restored,” News 5 Net reported.

The city assures customers that its meters are “accurate and dependable.”

To read more about automated meters, visit Water Online’s AMR, AMI And Metering Solutions Center.