jumps from $100 to $262?? Did this happen to anyone else? or do i have a leak? 

I just took a leak..... 

I haven't gotten mine yet - may be in today's mail. I know it's going to be a whopper though since I've had to do a lot of watering. I'm skeered! 

Red, last month I paid 302.00. This month, down to 165.00 because we decreased our watering time. Not sure how to get it around 100.00 without the lawn turning gold. I'm appalled. I have never had to deal with my water bill being more than my electric and gas combined! 

I don't water. I will add to the pool if it gets too low, but i haven't done that in awhile. That's a huge jump. Average use 9,000 gallons, last month 20,000 gallons. 

Haven't you guys figured out yet that they charge you whatever the hell they want to charge you and you're just supposed to pay it? 

I don't water. I will add to the pool if it gets too low, but i haven't done that in awhile. That's a huge jump. Average use 9,000 gallons, last month 20,000 gallons.



Well then why are you asking? Seems you should be able to draw your own conclusions.

Check online your daily usage. 

Haven't you guys figured out yet that they charge you whatever the hell they want to charge you and you're just supposed to pay it?


Stupid comment. 

I expect a the largest bill of the year for August. Same for electricity 

WatchOut --- 32 min ago - quote - hide comments
Haven't you guys figured out yet that they charge you whatever the hell they want to charge you and you're just supposed to pay it?


Stupid comment

Superficial punk




They average out your usage and adjust it when they scan the meter. 

I paid twice as much this month and i was home less. 

check for a leak. 

my bill went from 228 last month to 152 this month 

8K gallons.
Water $40.06
Sewage $52.53
Drainage %8.78

For a $101.37

That sewage charge is 51.8% of the bill!


That was last month..this month we have used 12,000 because of a toilet that kept running while we were out of town.

If we are gone any amount of time we turn off the supply to toilets, washer and dishwasher. We had a toilet tank crack and the water ran for gawd knows how long.


Look at yours and see what you are paying to flush your toilet too much. 

houston water.org.....track your daily use. 

we supposedly used 20,000 gallons in December and we were not home the whole month. And we certainly were not watering at that time. 

Something sounds fishy with the large number of water bill complaints I have heard today. Some of them are ridiculously high like the $1100 bill the people in my rent house received. You can fill a pool for less. 

August is always my highest month but this year was lower than last year. I won't complain about $99!

I also check my usage online every few days. 

Where did the quote button go?

I was going to quote the something fishy comment and say I'm glad to hear that because i think something is wrong with their system.

I can't access the daily usage on the site today. it says possible communication problem. 

Red Mulch:

I have been monitoring my water for a few months and all of a sudden the online satellite feature stopped working. This happened on 7-31. I have been going around and around with the City of Houston to get this rectified. This is the letter I received today.

Thank you for contacting Water Customer Service.

Please be advised that the electronic device in your meter is working properly. However, our consumption awareness program (CAP) is still in progress. The reason you are no longer able to see the daily display is due to a weak signal. We are trying to resolve this issue but we still have many customers with a weak signal or no signal at all. We are hoping to complete this project by summer of 2015.

Best Regards,

My bill was 256.00 this month, but we had been watering a bit more. But, I have been able to figure out how to keep the bill down, but my plants sure wouldn't like it! 

Here's a dumb blonde question: Where is the water meter?? I have pulled up every cover in the front yard and i don't find a meter of anytype. It is not on the back of the house...

Where are they typically? 

Red:

Did you go onto the City of Houston website? They show you pictures of what the water box looks like. It is in our front yard, guessing yours would be there also. It is a black box, rectangular in shape. You can access the satellite meter if you unscrew the top of the meter box, but they want you to wear gloves to not contaminate it, WTH? It is in the ground! Surely water gets in there! Ours stopped working after that 4 inch rainfall we had back in the end of July. Still think it is the meter itself and not the CAP, as they are telling me! Tempted to have the hubs go and investigate, but don't want to fool with it. 

Then i guess i did find it. I just didn't know you had to unscrew the the little round thing. I'll try that. i've just never had a reason to question a bill before. 

dang those are high bills! We are a family of 5 and mine is only $120 right now. Thats with everyone showering once a day, and doing laundry 3x's a week (about 10 loads or more) I water once a week, mostly just around the foundation and the front yard though. 

If you only have 1 meter and you run your sprinklers you will be charged for sewage on that as well. You need 2 meters....1 for your house water and sewage costs and 1 for sprinklers only. That's what the COH told me when I had a bill for $260. The small meter is only $135 but you havw to use a City of Houston approved contractor to put it in. I was too scared to check the cost of that. So no more sprinklers on a timer, water by hand or manually run sprinklers a couple times a week and keep an eye on the usage online. I can't afford a water bill that's higher than my electric bill. 

When I lived in Kings River and water was thru MUD 151 my bill was about $40 and I had a pool and a green yard. 

Once all went to city water bills doubled or tripled. 

Red - if I remember correctly, by the end of my old driveway and about 5' from the curb there are two black covers about 1'x2'. One of those was my old water meter, the other is yours.

Hope this makes sense and helps. 

I figure it's a scam. It's happened to me and everyone I know. All of a sudden a huge bill arrives for no good reason, there were no leaks or busted pipes.

They just go blah blah blah we have the data here....PAY UP! No way to challenge it. No check and balance they don't control.

Just think. If they do this to everyone a few times, it's like a bonus for the water department big time. 

It is a monopoly right now, hopefully one day we can purchase our water through other venues. In the meantime, I believe I will invest in water! Our next "gold"! Think about it, even more important than oil! You need water to live! 

When they first went to city water there was difficulty getting them to actually come out and read our meters. I had the same bill for three months straight. Luckily I had bills from a year ago to match up. I called and told them to come and read or I would do so meself! She asked if I knew how , lol. Said for what I do for living could probably figure it out! They came, they read, and except for occasional laziness seems to be ok. 

Part of the reason I will leave Houston is because of the cost of water. 

Finally got my water bill today - $272. I'm surprised as I was expecting $350+. Of course $142 of it was that stupid sewer part. 

I looked closer at the details and both the water part and the sewer part almost tripled. 

both the water part and the sewer part almost tripled.

Almost sounds like they may have been estimating you usage for a couple of months and finally read the meter.

It has to be that or ... you gotta' leak somewhere. Didn't you just have a couple of toilets replaced? If so, was either one of those leaking before they were replaced. 

We get 2, our house bill went up $12 and the yard/pool bill went down $13. 

I got mine- over 200.00- but next month's gonna be a biotch- my neighbor ran over a sprinkler head- it somehow popped up on her side- and she broke it- she was very nice, and paid for a new head, but for a week, we had a leak- ugh- 

Thank goodness. Just got mine and it's only 122 this month. Jumped a whole 7 dollars :). Y'all had me worried! 

Thank goodness. Just got mine and it's only 122 this month. Jumped a whole 7 dollars :).


You either have a small yard, brown grass, and/or filthy, smelly people in your family. 

nope dont have either ;) All shower once a day, wash clothes all week long at least one load a day this week. Water only once a week but i water for about 2-3 hours straight. Just no pool. And right now there is 6 of us in the house. Not to mention i wash a load of dishes in the dish washer every night.