Tens of thousands of San Diego residents are having their water bills withheld. Some log on to the city of San Diego's website to pay their bill and see a zero balance. The city says it withholds bills when there are unusual water readings, whether those readings show higher-than-normal usage due to a leak or lower-than-normal usage, or when the city suspects that the reading is inaccurate. However, as the city's water department withholds these bills to investigate, there is no notice provided to the customer that their bill is under investigation. The water department does not inform the customer that they may have a leak. Instead, the customer sees a zero balance and does not receive a bill, either online or in the mail for months and in some cases as long as two years. And, when they do receive their bills, they come at once, with some as high as $16,000. CBS 8 has reported extensively on the issue. We spoke to customers who tell us that they have sat on hold with the water department and, in some cases, have been hung up on when getting through to a representative. CBS 8 also interviewed San Diego's City Auditor who said he has been asking for the Water Department to notify customers every six months since 2018. On Tuesday, August 30, after repeated requests, CBS 8's Shannon Handy sat down with Director of the Public Utilities Juan Carlos Guerrerio in an exclusive interview to find out why this is happening, what his department is doing to fix the problem, how the issue has gone on so long, and how the department plans to win back trust from customers. MORE: https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/working-for-you/san-diego-director-of-public-utilities-discuss-rampant-billing-issues/509-a8f4cbbe-28e8-4037-a845-b6c75af923be