Houston water customers continue to question unusually high bills, with some saying they struggle to get answers from the city’s Public Works Department.
“Every time I have communicated with someone from the Public Works Department, it feels like a dead end and nobody will help,” Katarina Barbosa wrote in an email to KPRC 2.
Julie, a Maplewood South resident, posted on Nextdoor that her water bill had more than doubled since June, reaching between $450 and $475 a month for two people.
These complaints are why ENOUGH continues to investigate equipment, billing and customer service problems at the Houston Water Department.
In March, ENOUGH’s Amy Davis reported that nearly 700 customers were billed for water they never used because the city installed incorrect equipment on their water meters.
Customers reported bills of hundreds of dollars, including one customer who received a $683 bill.
Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi told KPRC 2 that a manufacturer sent the wrong equipment in a large order at the end of 2022. Much of it was installed in 2024.
Macchi said the wrong meter registers were not compatible with the meters, causing them to record water usage faster or slower than what customers actually used.
The department identified 637 meters with incorrect registers and said it replaced all of them by the end of March.
In August, Energy Corridor homeowner Edgar Zavala contacted the water department after receiving unusually high bills. His July bill was $479, followed by an $820 bill in August.
Zavala said the city reported that he had used 27,000 gallons of water in one month, even though he and his wife were staying elsewhere while their house was on the market.
After the city told him it could take up to 30 days for someone to check his meter, Zavala decided to test it himself using a five-gallon bucket.
He made sure there was no water running inside his house. He recorded the number on his meter in the water meter box. Then he filled the five-gallon bucket. When he checked the meter afterward, it had registered 22 gallons — more than four times the amount of water he used.
Zavala shared his findings with KPRC 2 and water customer service. He wanted the city to have the information before they sent someone to his home. No one from the city responded to Zavala’s email.
About a week and a half later, a Houston Public Works employee stopped by his home. Zavala said the employee focused on finding a leak, not checking the meter’s accuracy. During a phone call, Zavala said the employee told him he was not part of the department responsible for meter accuracy.
After Amy Davis contacted Macchi and showed him video of the test, a city crew returned to Zavala’s home that same day and replaced the meter register. The register was not the correct one for his meter.
Zavala did have a small leak in his meter box, which he fixed while the crew was there. However, that leak would not have accounted for 27,000 gallons of water, according to the investigation.
The city credited Zavala’s account $872. But the letter explaining the adjustment did not tell him that the wrong equipment had caused his high bills. Zavala said he received no clear explanation of what the city had done or why.
Davis asked Macchi how many other meter registers had been installed by the same contractor on the day Zavala’s register was installed.
Macchi said the contractor installed six others on the route that day and the city had checked them, confirming the installations were correct. He called Zavala’s case isolated.
Macchi declined to speak on camera for the follow-up investigation.
Davis said the case raises questions about whether all incorrectly installed equipment has been found and why customers continue to have difficulty getting help when they report potential problems.
KPRC 2 had only the addresses of the 637 customers identified as having incorrect meter registers, so the team mailed letters asking whether the city had notified them and whether they had received a refund or credit.
Of the 44 responses received so far, 25 customers said they had not heard from the city and had not received a refund or credit.
Davis said the team is continuing to follow up with those customers. KPRC 2 also sent their information to Macchi and asked him to review the accounts and explain why the customers had not heard from the water department.
If you are concerned that your Houston water bill is unusually high, a five-gallon bucket test may help you document a possible discrepancy.
KPRC 2 encourages customers who try the test to record it and share their findings with the ENOUGH TEAM.
ENOUGH will continue following the results and seeking answers about inaccurate bills, customer communication and whether affected customers received refunds or credits.
Related: How to check your water meter
