HOUSTON – When Val Reeves got her July water bill, she could not believe it.
The retired school teacher quickly checked the numbers.
It showed she went from 4,000 gallons in June to 52,000 in July.
"I was shocked," Reeves said. "I thought that we either had a leak, or the meter must have been misread or somebody had tapped into it."
She and her husband have a pool, but said they have not filled it up in six years.
She said their lawn sprinklers have not been turned on in six weeks.
In a home with only two adults, she could not understand how her water use shot up 48,000 gallons in a month.
That is more than enough water to fill up two big swimming pools.
She said plumbers found no leaks.
She said she called her utility company, Severn Trent, and had not gotten the answers she was looking for.
"I'd like them to really take a look at what's going on and give me some answers," Reeves said.
She said she and her husband were not even home during half of the high billing period.
"People are starting to receive bills from the hottest, driest parts of the year,” said Gary Norman of the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Department.
Reeves is not a customer of the City of Houston.
Norman said a leak can cause a high water bill.
For example, he said a toilet leaking half a gallon a minute could equal nearly 22,000 gallons of wasted water in a month. He said, in the city of Houston, help is available for customers with leaks, unusually high water bills and exceptional circumstances.
If that happens, he said, "contact us for a potential adjustment to your water bill."
Late Thursday, Reeves said, with KPRC 2’s help, she got a helpful call from her utility company, Severn Trent. She said her case is now considered a priority and the utility company promised to promptly send out another employee and to call her back by noon Friday.
"If they could just help me make it make sense, then maybe I'd get it," Reeves said.