Houston Public Works (HPW) is aware that some customers received high water bills after their meter reading devices were replaced.

Over the last several weeks, HPW installed new meter reading devices in neighborhoods where the previous ones were not working properly. The old devices led to some accounts being estimated and charged incorrectly. Moving forward, bills will be generated based on actual readings.

“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.”

HPW is currently operating under a City Council approved program to replace the meter reading devices in specific areas of the city where failure of the devices have occurred. This is not a city-wide issue.

Again, HPW regrets the inconvenience this has caused to customers affected by this change. These customers will be notified once their accounts are corrected and will not incur late fees or experience service interruptions.

There is no action required by the customers, and they will be notified within five business days. If you have questions or believe you have been incorrectly charged, please reach out to the Customer Account Services team at 713.371.1400.