Some Penn Hills residents are upset about costs of professional installation of credit meters that track water used for filling pools, washing cars and maintaining lawns

John Weyrauch is one resident who is upset that Oakmont Water Authority is requiring him to install a credit meter on his property so he can be credited on his quarterly sewer bill for water that does not enter the sewer system.

In March, he received a letter stating that purchasing the meter would cost between $120 and $190 and that the meter must be installed by a licensed plumber.

The newest estimate for purchasing a credit meter is $83.50. A different provider is selling the meters, according to a letter the authority provided to the Progress.

Weyrauch needs the meter to credit him for the water he uses to wash his car and water his lawn.

The requirement of installing a credit meter is new because the authority took over collection of sewer fees from Penn Hills residents it serves from Central Tax Bureau in April.

John Fisher is another resident who is not happy about the costs involved with a credit meter. He said he feels like he is being penalized with an added expense for trying to keep his yard nice. Fisher also uses water for a pool and car washes.

The deduction meter Fisher installed while he was billed by Central Tax cost him about $40. Weyrauch also has a deduction meter at his house.

Fisher estimates it will cost several hundred dollars to get a licensed plumber to install the credit meter.

Penn Hills residents served by Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority (WPJWA) will have to install new credit meters when it takes over sewer fee collections from Central Tax in the summer, said Terry Van Horne, municipal manager.

For now, the code enforcement department will handle credits to quarterly sewer bills for those served by WPJWA, he said.

Residents and businesses with deduction meters submit quarterly forms that list how much water was used outside to code enforcement, which processes the credits for sewer bills, said Robert Hunter, code enforcement director.

If the credited amount seems unjustified or wrong, a municipal code enforcement employee visits the residence or business to confirm the reported figure.

About 300 residents and businesses have deduction meters, according to the code enforcement department.

So far, about 15 to 20 credit meters have been installed by Penn Hills residents served by Oakmont Water Authority, said Diana Alese, Oakmont Water Authority office manager.

About 200 Penn Hills residents have the old deduction meters at their residences, but more than half were not using them, she said.

One person has called to complain about installing a credit meter and others have called and were satisfied with the explanation given for using the new credit meters, Alese said.

The credit meters will be read at the same time as water meters, so Penn Hills customers will receive automatic credits on their sewer bills, instead of dealing with the previous manual process for credits, she said.

Oakmont Water Authority has about 7,000 Penn Hills customers.