ABOUT 40 families in a settlement in Lautoka are unhappy with the new billing system of the Water Authority of Fiji.
Mani Lal, 62, of Waiyavi, said residents in the area met with the WAF officials to air their disappointment on the alarming increase in water bills.
Mr Lal said for the past few years, he was charged an average of $35 for water usage for three months but this was no longer the case now.
He requested the WAF to re-inspect the water meters because of the increase in their water bill.
"We normally got $35 bill for the past years under the then Public Works Department but now we are getting $175 bill which is more than triple the old bill," he said.
"I believe there is something wrong with the new water meters because most of the times we are not supplied with water yet our bill keeps on increasing.
"In our area we are supplied with water for only three hours in the morning and another three hours at night but the bill continues to mount.
"We are pleading with the WAF to seriously look into the matter.
"Even some families in our area have been charged more than $1000 for water but are not receiving consistent water supply."
Mr Lal said the meeting with the WAF was fruitful and the affected families were optimistic that the officers would deal with the issue seriously.
WAF corporate communications team leader Fulori Turaga said the issue needed to be looked at instantly.
"We have met with hundreds of families in Waiyavi, Lautoka who have been without water services for many years but are still billed," she said.
"We have received constructive criticisms on how to improve our services and this is a huge learning curve for us.
"Our focus now is to consider all complaints seriously and all complaints should be attended to as soon as possible."
Ms Turaga said the team also spent few sessions in Nadi before addressing their officers in the west on the importance of their customers.
She said the authority had about 52,000 customers in the west.