SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Bettina Brown lives comfortably in a tiny Capitol Hill apartment, decorated just as it was the day she moved there in 1960, with Japanese shoji screens and paper lantern lamps.

Until recently, her water and sewer costs were included as part of her rent. Retired, and living alone now, she doesn't use a lot of water -- maybe a little to cook, do some dishes and bathe, perhaps a glass or two to wash down the vitamins she says that keep her energized.

Last year, Brown's landlord told her that instead of higher rents, tenants would get a separate monthly water bill.

It seemed fair enough to Brown. The first bill wasn't bad -- $28.95.

Fifteen months later, the bills are growing steadily. Her most recent water bill, at $55.39, was nearly double the first one. She worries what the numbers might look like a year from now.

A company in Texas sends the bills, and Brown mails her checks to it.

"It doesn't make any difference if you conserve or not, there's no improvement in the bill. It doesn't go down," she said. "We are getting screwed and there isn't a thing we can do."

About 20,000 Seattle renters now receive third-party water bills, according to city reports, and many of them make similar complaints.

About 20 percent of Puget Sound-area landlords now hire companies, often from out of state, to calculate water bills for their tenants, mail them and collect the money. The companies also sometimes act as collection agencies if tenants fail to pay.

Seattle P-I

-- Anonymous, May 17, 2003