'It's old technology' | City of Houston working on issue that caused abnormally high water bills

KHOU 11
Author: Maria Aguilera
Published: 10:11 PM CDT May 13, 2023

HOUSTON — The City of Houston is working through the issues that resulted in thousands of residents receiving abnormally high water bills.

Mayor Sylvester Turner said Saturday they’re rolling out a plan to resolve the problem soon.

The issues began after the city’s installation of new water meter reading devices. Turner said the problem resulted from old technology in the new devices. 

“Quite frankly it's old technology that's been around for a long time. It's about 6,600 of the technology in meters that malfunctioned. That is being corrected,” Turner said. 

Gerald and Gertrude Arnold have been living in their southwest Houston home for nearly 50 years. For the past several years they recall paying no more than $36 for their water bill. This month, their bill skyrocketed. 

“It’s unreal. you have a water bill that went from $36 to $2100 in a month's time," Gerald Arnold said. "A lot of people get a bill like that and you're scared to death."

Houston Public Works issued an apology this week stating it’s not a city-wide issue and that they’re replacing the meter reading devices in the areas where the failure occurred. 

“We apologize for the stress and confusion among customers who received these bills,” said Houston Public Works Director Carol Haddock. “I want to reassure our customers that we are working proactively to directly contact those who have been impacted and the department will make appropriate corrections to these accounts.”

Arnold and his neighbors said their bills jumped to anywhere from $1,000 to more than $2,000. 

"We don't want to have to go through this every month. I mean, this is ridiculous as far as I'm concerned," Arnold said. 

Turner said the issues should be resolved before people get their final water bill. If you believe you’ve been charged incorrectly, you are asked to contact public works at 713-371-1400.