SAN JUAN – The city of San Juan may offer a credit to a resident who waited days for service after discovering a water leak.

Earlier this year, Melvin Persson said he saw his front yard was flooding and called the city of San Juan to send a utility technician.

He would later discover the leak was on his property and the water delivery costs incurred remained his responsibility. But the bill only grew as the arrival of a city technician was delayed.

When a city technician did arrive, they discovered the leak was within a foot or two of the water meter, Persson said. The only way to stop the leak was to shut off the municipal water meter.

"That was after we ran through all this water," said Persson.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS followed up with San Juan City Manager Benjamin Arjona about the claim.

He said he reviewed call logs and found Persson called at 4:43 p.m. on a Friday. Arjona said the crew arrived the following Tuesday.

He said the service was not acceptable.

"The minute that we hear 'water leak,' we are to make a call and submit the work order immediately," said Arjona.

Arjona said he will reach out to Persson to discuss giving the resident a credit, because of the delay.

The credit will not cover the entire month's water bill, he said. That's because Persson is still responsible for the lost water prior to calling the city.

Prior to speaking to CHANNEL 5 NEWS’ interview with Persson, the city also agreed to remove the sewage fees from the $656 water bill, because the leaked water drained into the ground. The bill was reduced to $383 Persson said.