DeKalb water customers insist $1200 water bills are out of line and demand the county correct persistent billing problems.

"I'm freaked out about it," Sam Levy of Dunwoody tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  "I don't why it's this high.  Something is wrong."

DeKalb County acknowledges some billing errors but maintains county errors are responsible for sharply higher bills about 13 percent of the time.

In some instances, customers are being billed for more than one month's service.  Water usage also tends to go up in summer.

DeKalb Chief Operating Officer Zach Williams says new water meters will improve the situation but that process will take several more years.

"We're on a journey," Williams tells the AJC.  "It will take a few years to have all of the smart meters installed."

DeKalb County is spending about $30 million to replace older mechanical meters with smart meters that will transmit water consumption every hour.  It should also flag abnormal water usage earlier.

To handle customer complaints, DeKalb adds more customer service representatives to handle billing disputes.  Phone wait times are down from 13 minutes two years ago to about two minutes today.

The county's also determined to collect $71 million in delinquent bills and is outsourcing collection.  Records obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution show renters account for the highest number of past-due bills.