Some of you are wondering if all of the water leaks you’re seeing around Houston are directly impacting your water bill. This is just one of the questions I got from a viewer as we continue our DRAINED investigation into city water billing issues.
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Viewer Richard Thraser called our newsroom to ask if gushing water leaks may be responsible for the unusually high water bills of people who live nearby. While it may seem related, the city says it’s not.
Homeowners are only responsible for the water that flows from the city meter to the pipes on their property. If the customer has a water leak in their yard or home they will be billed for that water but not for water lost from broken city lines even if those lines are close to their home.
That said if you see a leak near your home it’s always a good idea to check your meter and home to make sure that water isn’t coming from a leak on your property.
Is the red dial on your meter still spinning when the water isn’t turned on in your home? If you see this, there is a good chance of a leak in your home.
The next question is about questionable Houston Public Works contracts.
I first told you about tens of millions of dollars the city of Houston approved for waterline repairs that were funneled to fake companies owned by relatives and friends of water department employees. Since that report, one employee has been relieved of duty, and another has resigned.
A viewer asks, did the water contractors do the repair work they were paid for?
Short answer: Yes, broken waterlines were repaired.
Yet sources tell us taxpayers may have paid more than necessary for the repairs because crews were sent to locations just to get hours. In other instances, sources tell us workers were paired up to train for weeks while both people were paid hourly.
This City of Houston contractor, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, explained how the process works from what he witnessed.
“This is what was told to us they were trying to make sure everyone got their hours still. So they were pairing people who were in training for longer than a month. They were putting people back to paired up who needed more training later on,” said the contractor.
I’m not done yet with this investigation so stay tuned!
Guess how much we’ve gotten back for frustrated water bill customers?
Our ‘DRAINED’ Investigation is getting results! Tomorrow city leaders will discuss the issue at the city council meeting after the Mayor proposed new changes yesterday.
Read more about the proposed changes here.
Others are getting the help they need. You may remember in October we invited you to sign up and join us at a city council and share your water bill issue with city council members. Twenty-seven people signed up! One of those people was Niya Valentine who was hit with a $10,000 water bill.
She had signed up for the city’s water usage alerts to make sure she would get notified if her usage spiked so she could check for leaks. However, she never received any notice that there were any problems with her account until she got a nearly $10,000 water bill.
“No leak alert, no email, no information. But when they want that money, they can find you,” said Valentine.
Valentine has been battling the city over the $10,000 bill since July 2022. Finally last week a water department representative called to tell her they were wiping that $10,000 off of her account because the city did not notify her and because the city skipped a bill, which allowed her leak to flow for 60 days.
So far, we’ve helped get $110,158.69 back on inaccurate water bills!!
Our investigation into water bills leaving you drained continues. If you have a question about water bills or anything else we can look into email me at AskAmy@kprc.com.
Check out this week’s Ask Amy episode where I sit down with producer Andrea Slaydon to talk all about the ‘DRAINED’ Investigation and everything else we have going on.