Below is the original posting, with chart (and I apologize for how fuzzy it is–the old style clarity and ability to blow-up the chart does not seem to be available on WordPress any longer); what follows the original material is my assessment of the chart, and real-world progress in the querents’ case. I’ll also answer each of you who so kindly offered your take on the chart, within the comments section.
Dear Reader,
I’m going to ask for your help with this one; since I’m close to the querents, it’s tough for me to take an objective view.
Let’s pretend it’s the Old West, and Water is a precious commodity. One day, our intrepid heroes (the querents–1st House) wake up to find that somehow tens of thousands of gallons of water have, supposedly, run through their system (while they were out-of-town for many weeks), and they’re left with a whopping bill (over $700 for one month, for a single-family residence–I should note that no one was in the house, and even when the entire family of four are present, water consumption is less than one-third of what they were charged for this month). Inspection proves that there is no haphazardly running tap, no breech in the lines, and the meter is not currently registering any activity, so a leak is not the cause. That leaves only two alternatives: fraud on the part of the water company, or water rustlers. Now, if you’re not from the Western US, or another part of the world where ranching and farming depend on underground water supplies, you may find the theft of water hard to believe. The final scene of ‘There Will Be Blood,’ where Daniel Day-Lewis talks about long long straws dipping in to other people’s distant milkshakes, aptly describes the kind of water commandeering that has been going on since well pumps, or perhaps since the first simple diversion of an underground stream, first occurred. Water rights are almost a sacred thing in the desert areas where I grew up, so theft in this case did seem to me a possibility (think of how much water it takes to fill an in-ground pool or hot tub). On the other hand, fraud by a co-operative utility that is progressively finding more and more of their assets cut into by residents resorting to solar panels, generators, simple downsizing on use due to high prices, installation of independent wells, and a diminishing population in the area, not to mention some very poor decisions in the buying and selling of their primary commodity (electricity), in their settlement with union employees, and in their decision to build a new headquarters for tens of millions against the wishes of their shareholders (the public), have put this utility in a bad way financially–all of this makes systematic fraud a distinct possibility, as well.
Below is the chart; I’d love to hear what you think. And many thanks to those who can take the time to give an opinion.
Part 2
I follow some pretty cut-and-dried horary rules, based on March and McEvers’ excellent ‘The Only Way to . . .’ series, so when I saw the Void Moon, I was done; the problem, though, was what do I tell the client? I use two phrases to describe the outcome of a question posed during the Void Moon: ‘Nothing will come of it,’ or ‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ and I had no idea which would prevail–would ‘nothing’ indicate that, no matter what they did, the bill would stand as it was? Or was there indeed, nothing to worry about, implying that things would be resolved in the client’s favor? You can see my dilemma!
Currently, the querents are vigorously pursuing a reasonable adjustment, using past water use patterns and billing, as well as the evidence of mutiple parties’ inspections of the house and grounds, with no evidence of excess water anywhere, and an apparently functioning meter (which has been thoroughly vetted by the utility) but just this morning one of the querents told me that she spoke with the utility rep, who called her ‘irrational’ because she did not accept his explanation that the 100,000 gallon flow-through (yes! one hundred thousand!) just started and stopped spontaneously, leaving no evidence behind! The governing board of the utility meets this week, and the matter will be raised; meanwhile, the querents are contemplating a class-action suit, as during this morning’s conversation, the client said that the utility rep admitted to her that they had handled 17 similar complaints just last week–and in such a relatively small place, that’s a significant number, possibly signalling malfeasance, rather than mistake.
Julie Demboski's ASTROLOGY 
Hmmm a backyard pool would hold about 18,000 – 22,000 gallons of water. The pool would need to be within reach of a hose. So do they have neighbors with a pool within reach of a hose that would do such a thing? That’s one consideration.
Another consideration would be someone with a truck hooking up to the house to fill up a tank in the cargo bed. The ones I have see are about 400 gallons. That would take a long time to fill up, plus they would have to come back several times knowing that it was safe to do so. That’s another consideration.
I don’t believe that a utility would cheat someone to that extent. I would check the meter readings against a old bill and compare it to the current reading just to make sure there wasn’t an error in reading the meter while they were gone.
In my opinion though, I think someone they know stole their water.
Hi Tammy, the possibility of theft certainly crossed the querents’ minds, as they report one neighbor at the back of their lot who owns a leaky hot tub–and they estimate only a couple of hoses connected together would’ve been needed to reach their outside faucet. This is the most likely theft scenario, for, as you point out, a truck would’ve drawn attention and been impractical–and trusted neighbors across the street would’ve noticed that. Thanks very much for weighing in!
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I’m not a horary astrologer, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
I see Saturn in Virgo as representing the water company. This Saturn is cool, precise and analytical. They’ve heard stories like this many times and they do not believe a word of it. They’ve looked at these kinds of situations before and found those claims to be erroneous. They believe the water overage is due to a plumbing situation.
Your friends, represented by the Moon and Neptune inconjunct this Saturn, believe the problem to be theft, as you’ve said. In my experience inconjuncts are involved in crimes, but here the zodiac sign is Aquarius, which indicates, they are thinking through the problem and coming, (by virtue of Neptune) to the wrong conclusion or approaching this in an unproductive way.
The resolution comes through the ninth house, through some sort of arbitration process. Here the arbitors will look at the evidence presented, which includes past water bills and the report of the plumbers who will have examined the property and report that there is no plumbing problems to cause this kind of overage. A one time adjustment could be made, based on the unusual overage, providing that your friends keep their heads and let the arbitors come to a decision.
Most likely they will not find out the reason for the bill, but the arbitors will suspect a billing error. They will not say this in their findings, but they will try to come to a reasonable resolution.
I wish your friends luck. And a good security system.
Hi Beth, your take on this was really interesting to me, and got me to look at the chart in a whole new light, as I saw it much differently. I saw the querents as the Moon (Void in Aquarius in the 8th)–I placed the utility in the 8th, because it is a co-operative, and Uranus as ruler fits the nature of an electricity/ water provider, as does Neptune posited there, and the Moon–the clients being both part of the co-operative and ‘at their mercy.’ And of course, no contact between the sigs, and with the querents’ significator also the customary co-ruler of the question, I felt that was the end of the line–a stand-off, so to speak.
You are certainly right on in your estimation of the utility’s attitude, and in the fact that this will likely play out through arbitration, if the utility will agree to it–I know the querents would prefer that to a lawsuit, but they are very agitated and determined to get a resolution that is, in their eyes, fair.
Thanks, Beth!
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As a horary problem, this is kinda screwed up. From what I can tell (chart print tiny), it looks like the rising is almost to degree 27, and the moon is void. Unfortunately, I don’t quite understand the question. Or rather, I don’t understand the question you are asking, which makes it hard to read it as a horary. I also note that the void moon (chart ruler) is separating from the conjunction of Neptune (water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink). In the eighth. I also note that the ruler of the 12th is Merc Rx in the Sixth, and the ruler of the fourth is Venus conjunction Uranus (surprise!), and the second house ruler is is the sun conjunction Jupiter (so somebody overdid it).
I threw a horary for just now, when I understood the question (‘What happened to the water?’), and there’s a giant second house pile-up with Merc Rx there.
Going by intuition and rolling the whole mess together, my first thought is that there is a mistake, but I don’t know who owns the mistake, and actually, nobody else does either.
So: I would dig out the bills from the last two months and (crosses fingers) hopefully the bills report the meter reading on them. I would then check everything against the current meter reading. If this month’s bill doesn’t match, they read the wrong meter. If it does match, and there is a sudden jump in water volume (being careful to note any rate changes), and no sudden unit price change than the water did disappear from your section of the plumbing.
It might have been stolen, but as above, it seems more likely it would be a neighbor with a long hose than a truck. It could still be a plumbing issue tho: toilets can get stuck open, and not make much noise. If one ran continuously for a month, even at a slow rate, that would be a lot of water. Fixing a stuck toilet temporarily, might be as simple as flushing it once. If you know that one of your toilets gets stuck open, I would tend to suspect that.
It also could be a slow leak in a ground pipe. Just to make sure, I would start plotting the rate from the meter (daily) and see if it adds up to an increase in volume.
max
[‘But the void moon and the neptune-moon suggest that there’s a mistake. Hell, is the right bill?’]
Hi Max, and I apologize, for both the bad graphics and the fact that I did not state the question–but you sorted it out all the same. A few comments–“almost 27 degrees” for the ASC doesn’t matter, in my book, as horary is dependent on some precision–and before 27 degrees, the matter is still in play. And to answer your point on monitoring, that’s one of the things that raised a flag for the querents–when the water’s off in the house, the meter’s not running at all–thus no leak, and this has been confirmed by the querent’s agents (i.e. plumbers), the querents, and by the utility. And, no chart is ‘a mess,’ though the situation might be 🙂
Thanks for playing our game!
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I am a novice astrologer who has never done horay astrology. Some observations from my limited perspective: I’m drawn to the 8th house- related to others’ resources– as it houses the chart ruler (void of course) in conj w/ Neptune and in the water sign, Pisces; and we are talking about fraud– or more correctly, deception. With the cusp of the 8th being the water-bearer, and it’s ruler opposite Saturn, I begin to wonder about the state of the water company in the face of the consequences of past actions that may be coming to fruition now– and may seem sudden, alarming, and the cause for impulsive action. Using sun-sign house system, I intuitively move toward Mars (traditional ruler of the 8th with Scorp being a water sign) in Cap as the water company; though I’m not sure how to interpret Mars’ harmonious rel to Venus, as well as to Uranus/Saturn. It is also interesting to note the other trad water houses (4th and 12th) are empty– as though all of the water is being housed in the 8th…
Something about the condition of the 7th, with the sun there, makes me think about some sort of projection going on. And with Chiron in a stellium with the moon and Neptune in the 8th, it may be that this stealing of resources/ being deceived/ not knowing what to believe, etc., is a significant theme for the querrent. They could be jumping to conclusions or projecting something onto to someone else; or it may be that this plays out in their interpretation of what is happening (i.e., more internally).
Finally, I can’t help notice Vesta sitting up there at the top of the chart and representing the sacred resource (of water? earth? natural resources?) and the aspects it makes with the first house part of fortune and 7th Jupiter– in fixed signs. There is a sense of good fortune here, perhaps. It may be that it could have been worse, though I am inclined to think the querrent is moving through a significant life lesson that will turn out well.
Hi Christine, considering that you didn’t utilize horary rules to derive your assessment, you did a very effective and intuitive job! You reached many of the same points as those of us who followed a formula–and that speaks of how very well you did. Thank you for participating, Christine!
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The same thing happened to me a few years ago, though it amounted to about $300. It was discovered that there was a leak in an underground pipe some distance away from my townhouse and therefore not on my property and therefore the utility company was at fault. Did I get my money back? No.
Sorry to hear this, Amy; I know the worst part for the querents has been the feeling that they are unarmed, in a way, in dealing with this, as it’s the company’s meter, the company’s assessment, and so on–and in any matter, this is a mentally and emotionally debilitating position to be in. I hope the utility is being kinder to you nowadays!
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Just a thought, but someone is trying to get someone in trouble – a water employee trying to get the company in trouble, since there were 17 other cases like this one.
The best course of action would be to file a class action suit demanding the employees be investigated for error on their part. Then no matter who did what the utility company can slide on in behind the complaint, blaming others.
Attacking the bosses for intentional robbery will be harder to prove unless an insider employee tattles, which one might do if they get angry enough for being blamed.
Immediate action should take place and the attorney should be at the meeting.
That’s my view.
Donna Davidson
Thank you, Donna! The clients are certainly considering serious action, but are waiting to see the disposition of the case after it goes before the review board, later this week.
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What about air running trough the meter and counting it as if it were water? This actually happened to a neighour of mine untill they finally found the leak (the machine that warms the water for your bath/sower – I forget the name, sorry – was taken out and one of the holes in the wall – I think the one directing the water to the machine – wasn’t closed. The air flow trough there, went to meter and the meter kept going up and up).
Also other neighours had a similar problem – but because they lived in a higher area and the water did not have the “strenght” to go all the way up – and so, again, the meter counted air. They fixed this already, btw.
Hi Dunya, I’m not sure how that would happen in a closed system without a commensurate water leak, though if the meter was susceptible through an undedicated inlet, I imagine it could happen. However, in the US many people use a central water heater, a big tank that serves all the house, rather than the on-point hot water heaters common in Europe (though many people are switching over). It’s already been determined that there’s no leak or breach in the system–so the big question is, how could so much water go through, then stop? Still a mystery, at this point. Thanks for your suggestion, though–I’ll pass it on to the client–as of this morning, Friday, I’ve not heard one way or the other about an outcome to their appeal.
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