HOUSTON — More than 300,000 Houston residents will see a big difference in how their water bill is calculated next month.
Since May 2023, water bills have been a constant complaint citywide.
One person we spoke to said they once got a bill for more than $3,000. Another person -- more than $8,000.
Mayor John Whitmire heard the complaints of Houstonians and came up with a plan to fix the issue, which includes fixing problematic technology more quickly. The city originally planned to replace 125,000 failed remote read devices within five years. That deadline has been moved to January 2025.
To lower water bills, single-family residential customers will transition to a set usage bill starting April 1. They'll see that reflected on their May bill. The set usage bill will continue until an upgraded remote meter reader is installed on their property or the accuracy of the current one is verified.
“And if this plan is not a huge improvement and gets water billing off the news, then there’s gonna be a lot of people looking for work," Whitmire said.
Whitmire said if you're a family that's been in service for less than a year, then the city will use an average of 3,000 gallons, which is the average in Houston for a single-residence family of three. If you've been in service for more than a year, the city is going to take the average of three months, excluding the drought and the freeze, and come up with a fair and accurate billing, Whitmire said.
What about renters?
“We have resources to go read those on a monthly basis, to be able to work with those customers directly so that we’re not estimating," said Carol Haddock, the director of Houston Public Works.
If you've already gotten a high water bill, the mayor said call Houston Public Works. If that doesn't work, he said call the mayor's office.
The city has created a new website that will let you know if the remote reader on your reader is working.
Customers who have an upgraded reader or working remote reader will transition to being billed on their actual usage as soon as August. They’ll get a 60-day notice before that happens.
If you have any questions about the updated billing, you are asked to call 713-371-1400 or email improvedwaterbill@houstontx.gov.
Watch the mayor's full announcement: