Slottsbrinkens sjövattenförening avoids 1.4 million SEK bill after pump SMS error

The Slottsbrinkens sjövattenförening, a water association in Mariefred, Sweden, narrowly avoided a 1.4 million SEK bill after two water pumps began messaging each other incessantly.

Following the decommissioning of older systems, the association implemented a new system to manage water extraction from Lake Mälaren for approximately 100 households. Due to a suspected bug in a SIM card, the two pump control units began sending SMS messages to one another at a rate of approximately one message per second for an entire month.

While the pumps typically send about 10 messages per day, this malfunction resulted in over 2.2 million messages. Although the association’s Telenor contract included free SMS, the fine print capped free messages at 15,000, with subsequent messages costing 63 öre plus VAT.

Upon requesting a traffic specification, the association received 32,000 pages of chat history. After discussions regarding the lack of automated alerts or spending caps for such anomalous activity, Telenor agreed to waive the invoice, according to association chairman Ludvig af Klinteberg.