‘Stop charging me’: Henrico woman paid thousands for a sewer service she isn’t using, why?

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Just because you are receiving a sewer bill does not mean you are connected to a sewer line. Dyantha Epps tells 8News she learned this lesson the hard way -- and it cost her thousands.

According to Epps, in the late 1980s, she was driving along Laburnum Avenue when she spotted her dream home from miles away.

(Photo: Jakobi Davis, 8News)

“I wanted a brick ranch ... everything on one floor, old-fashioned fireplace, and this was it," she told 8News.

As a first-time homebuyer, Epps was eager to make this house a home, skipping the inspection process. She said that, at the time she moved in, she was told the house was connected to the county's sewer line.

(Photo: Jakobi Davis, 8News)

It wasn't until 2007, when she invested in a home improvement to add a back porch to her yard, that workers were stopped in their tracks when they found a septic tank. Epps said she later learned that she actually wasn't connected to the county and had her first backup in 2021, followed by another major backup in 2022.

“The sewage [was] coming [into] my tub, I had to close this bathroom off and had to make all kinds of arrangements so I can handle my personal business," Epps said.

(Photo: Jakobi Davis, 8News)

Epps said she paid thousands of dollars to make repairs and that's when she started to press the county to learn why she paid more than $9,000 over decades for a sewer service that she wasn't using.

“You should not be charging anybody for any service that they're not getting. And that's just plain fact," Epps said.

(Photo: Jakobi Davis, 8News)

8News reached out to the county to learn why Epps continued to receive bills despite the use of her septic tank and received the following statement from Henrico County's Department of Public Utilities:

Ms. Epps is being charged the "Not connected, single-family residential unit" rate of $38.40 bimonthly per Section 23-362, (a) (1) (c). This charge is for the availability of sewer service to the property and for the operations and maintenance costs incurred to continue to provide the availability of service. Since the connection fees were paid when the connection was installed in 1975, Ms. Epps has the option of notifying us of her intent to connect to the system. To do that, she would need to coordinate with a private plumber for a plumbing permit, which would be issued by the Department of Building Inspections, and then proceed with connecting to the system. Bently Chan, Director of Public Utilities

The county says they will not be paying Epps back for previous years, but she does have the option to abandon service.

Knowing your connection status could save you some money in the long run. You can reach out to the Department of Public Utilities to test your connection free of charge, or you can hire a plumber.