Five gallons of water should not become 22 gallons simply because Houston is doing the billing. Homeowner Edgar Zavala’s bucket test exposed exactly that discrepancy.
Houston’s water customers have reason to ask whether they are being fleeced. They face inflated bills, confusing adjustments and difficulty recovering money, while Mayor John Whitmire’s administration gives utility revenues more responsibility for supporting the city budget. A customer’s obligation to pay seems much clearer than the city’s obligation to explain itself.
Zavala’s experience, reported by KPRC on October 23, makes the problem tangible. His July bill was $479; August brought $820. The city reported 27,000 gallons while he and his wife were staying elsewhere. Told a meter check could take 30 days, he tested it himself. Five gallons registered as 22.
The city moved quickly once Amy Davis showed Public Works Director Randy Macchi the video. Crews replaced the incorrect register that day, and Zavala received an $872 credit. A small leak did not explain the reported consumption, according to KPRC. Even the adjustment letter failed to explain the incompatible equipment. Macchi said six other installations on the contractor’s route checked out and called Zavala’s case isolated. click2houston.com
The larger equipment failure involved 637 addresses. KPRC’s May investigation found that incompatible registers caused meters to record consumption faster or slower than actual use. The shipment dated to late 2022; much of the equipment was installed in 2024. City emails showed officials discovered the problem in January 2026. Crews replaced equipment in March.
Customers were left out of the explanation. Brandon Citizen reported a $683 bill. Charles Anyichie, whose usual consumption was about 2,000 gallons, saw readings climb as high as 15,000. He received an $825.05 credit; Heather Laureles was to receive $623.09. Macchi acknowledged a customer-service failure. He also warned that closed accounts complicated getting credits back to former customers. www.click2houston.com
The refund question remained alive in October. In the bucket-story follow-up, KPRC reported mailing the 637 addresses. Of 44 respondents, 25 said they had received neither notification nor a refund or credit. Those responses cannot establish what happened at every address. They do establish that replacing equipment and making customers whole are separate jobs. click2houston.com
These failures followed Whitmire’s April 2024 billing reform. In December 2024, KPRC reported that Kingwood resident Amber McMunn’s usual 4,000 gallons became 52,000 gallons on her November bill, producing a charge exceeding $1,500. After a plumber found no leaks, the city replaced equipment and zeroed out the bill. Public Works attributed the misreading to a failed remote-reading device. www.click2houston.com
Robert Bell encountered the same kind of disbelief. KPRC’s February 2025 report described a customer accustomed to roughly $34 monthly who received bills of $163 and $213. The department acknowledged a failed sensor and issued a $384.68 “courtesy” credit. Returning money after inaccurate readings ought to be a basic obligation.
The complaints extended beyond Bell. About 150 customers had contacted KPRC since late November 2024, although that count alone does not establish 150 billing errors. More tellingly, the station reported that each case it forwarded to the department produced findings of reading errors and credits. Macchi acknowledged that the department had sometimes lacked the evidence to substantiate the bills it defended. www.click2houston.com
Even an approved credit could become another dispute. Shannon and Josh Ortega received more than $3,200 in credits in 2023 following notices citing incorrect readings. In 2024, Shannon asked for the remaining roughly $1,500 as a check. The city removed the credit, saying its original decision had been erroneous. Public Works told KPRC it could not identify who authorized it.
The explanation became another burden for the customer. After reporters intervened, the Ortegas received $399.68 without an accompanying explanation. The city subsequently described a recalculation of estimated bills and acknowledged its communication failure. The larger dispute remained unresolved in that report. An official correction should give residents confidence; here, it gave them another set of numbers to fight. gmg-kprc-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com
Unused meters have generated their own continuing charges. In January 2024, KPRC reported roughly 7,000 property owners paying base charges despite using no water, estimating about $3.5 million collected over two years. Those were service fees, distinct from inaccurate consumption readings. The failure was that customers were not consistently informed how to stop them.
Patricia Russo had sought help 15 times and appeared before council in October 2023. Her charges continued. A December 2023 ordinance change allowed customers to pay $150 to cap an unused meter. After KPRC followed up in January, Russo received a $474 refund. Another customer, Elena Garcia, had been told removing her unused meter would require a plumber costing more than $1,000; reporter intervention brought a city crew and erased charges. click2houston.com
The same misinformation persisted into 2026. In April, a Heights resident named Mark was told the capping option did not apply to his inactive irrigation meter. KPRC found that advice was wrong. A remedy means little when the city employee answering the telephone tells customers they cannot use it. ‘DRAINED’ investigation changed that
Whitmire inherited a serious problem, and the record includes substantial relief. By January 10, 2024, the city had processed $1.87 million in credits for 1,621 accounts under the December ordinance changes. Public Works described those as newly authorized relief adjustments, rather than corrections of billing errors. KPRC separately reported helping customers recover more than $300,000 since its investigation began in 2022. www.click2houston.com
The administration also undertook extensive repairs. Public Works’ May 2026 council presentation reported more than 120,000 remote-reading devices installed and 110,000 registers replaced since April 2024. It reported 2,182 customer appointments, with 77 percent of issues resolved within a day, and more than 47,000 customers receiving larger adjustments under revised rules. Those accomplishments matter.
The remaining exposure was enormous. That same presentation identified more than 340,000 of 514,000 meters as over 20 years old, with more than 240,000 meters still lacking updated remote-reading devices. Houston’s own figures explain why residents need dependable safeguards whenever a bill is disputed. www.houstontx.gov
The budget connection comes directly from City Hall. The mayor’s June 10 announcement of the adopted fiscal 2027 budget said solid waste would move into the combined utility system, accompanied by a $5 monthly administrative fee appearing on August water bills. It also announced a right-of-way fee on water and wastewater utilities supporting public safety, libraries, parks, municipal courts and multiservice centers. The administration explicitly connected these changes to structural budget balance. houstontx.gov
Water customers therefore have two legitimate questions: Is this bill accurate, and how much of my payment supports the rest of city government? Whitmire owes clear answers to both. Describing a budget as achieved without raising taxes does little for a household confronting another fee, an unexplained consumption spike or money tied up in a disputed account.
Are Houston’s water customers being fleeced? Looking at the repeated errors, inadequate notices, disputed credits and growing reliance on utility revenues, I believe they have ample reason to say yes. Whitmire’s repairs establish that his administration can act. Customers deserve that same urgency when the money belongs to them.
A city that can find new uses for water customers’ money ought to be able to find the customers it owes.