HEALDTON, OK -- Many things make a water bill go up during the summer, but in Healdton one resident's bill doubled in a single month. And she says the problem starts with the people taking meter readings.

"I think they should be watched more. They're inmates. Our kids roam free in this neighborhood, and you never know," said Sheri Salazar.

Inmates are walking the streets of Healdton and checking 1,200 water meters for the city each month. A city supervisor takes two state inmates out in a truck and watches them walk from house to house, shouting back the numbers.

It is a system Salazar says is terribly inefficient, forcing her to overdraft her bank account.

"I could never get a hold of a councilman, and if I didn't have it paid by yesterday they were going to shut off the water so I had no choice but to pay the bill."

The city confirmed they would do a re-read after Salazar voiced her complaint, but she says she saw the inmate take the number without even looking into the meter.

After checking the work of the inmate, what they found was a meter flooded with muddy water. Salazar had to remove thirty cups of water from the meter before they could even see inside. But despite their complaints, the city still stands by the reading.

"We wouldn't have what I call problems with the readings, it's not uncommon for their to be misreads," said city manager Brian Scribner.

"Even when we weren't using inmates we had to do that."

Healdton has been using inmates for fourteen years and say that error in judgment by the resident is more often the result.

"People just seem to use more water in the summer, from showers to watering yards, and they don't expect a high bill," said Scribner.

One month after being forced to pay a disputed bill, Salazar's next payment was half the previous month's bill. Something she says can't be right.

"I just want to be treated fairly," said Salazar.

"I've never paid a bill late, and they should have been able to let me pay half what was due so that I could pay the next half when I had the money."