City post payments daily, the day the payment is received is the day Staff post the payment. To investigate, the City needs a copy of the processed payment to view the City's bank information posted on the back of the check.  If you use your bank's bill pay option, the bank provides a confirmation illustrating monies debited from your account, however the City may not have ascertained the payment.  These payments are sent either by uploaded file or printed check mailed to our office.  City recommends to pay the bill. Should the payment come in or be located, the payment will be posted to the account.  To avoid this issue, City recommends to utilize our online automatic credit card payment.  No fees are assessed and the City debits the account on the due date.

If you are unable to resolve the high usage, please request a meter profile to view your daily and hourly usage for the past 30 days, based on when our tech pulls the data.  If no resolution, the City offers one free accuracy test* for 2-inch and smaller water meters.  As the only connection/measuring device between the City and customer, the water meter can be tested for it's accuracy based on the American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards by a third party.

*If the account or account name has multiple meters, only one (1) meter will be offered the free test. 

The process: 

1. The water meter is replaced with another same size meter. 
2. The next bill reflects a debit adjustment for the usage on the pulled meter.
3. The pulled meter is tested by a third party.  Results can take up to 3 weeks, based on their workload.
4. Testing standards are based on the American Water Works Association (AWWA); +/- 1.5% of 100%.   

All meter testing is under the direction of the American Water Works Association, 2018 Meter Testing addendum. (Page 10, see Size for customer’s meter size)  

• If the meter results indicate the meter is accurate, +/- 1.5%, the account remains unchanged.  

• If the meter results indicate the meter is not accurate, 1.6% or higher, the account is adjusted based on previous meter’s usage, adjust same bill month from the tested meter’s installation date to the pulled bill month. 

• If the meter results indicate the meter is less than accurate, 1.4% or lower, the account remains unchanged.  

Yes, you can apply for the Residential Water/Sewer Rates for Existing/New Customer, if a larger (1” or 2”) domestic water meter is required for a residential home to maintain water pressure due to the location of the home from the water main.

The request submitted by the developer/resident will be assessed by Engineering to evaluate the distance, friction loss, and water pressure.

The distance between the home and the water main shall be a minimum of 100’ for consideration. The use of a 5/8” water-meter size for determining the rate for water/sewer impact fee/base fee and a monthly fee for a single-family residential home will be approved by Engineering if found applicable.

Checking for a leak can require an accountholder to perform simple tests, or more complicated measures if the initial observations don’t result in a clear indication of the problem. Leaks can exist in different areas of the home, but the most common places you’ll find leaks are in your bathroom toilets. Simply removing the top covering of the tank, adding some sort of food coloring, a small amount of cherry or grape soda, or some other colored drink, and letting the toilet sit and unused without flushing for 30-45 minutes will generally do the trick. When you return, if the food coloring or other substance you’ve used to check for the leak is in your bottom bowl, that means the flapper is not sealing correctly, which is allowing more water to go through your meter when in time of flushing. 

For sprinkler system leak-testing, double check your settings on the sprinkler system and make sure none of the heads are leaking. Sometimes, summertime heat could cause one of the heads to burst, causing water to leak through the head. For faucets, water softeners or water heaters, a simple visual test will often let you know one of these fixtures or devices is leaking. 

These types of leaks are all the responsibility of the homeowner to repair or resolve, as the City is only responsible for leaks that exist beyond the property line of your residence.

Generally, water consumption is higher during the summer months due to watering of lawns, pools and gardening. An unusually high water bill is most often caused by a leak or change in water usage. Some common causes of high water bills include:  

• a leaking toilet or a toilet that continues to run after being flushed, in which case a continuously running toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water or more in one day; 
• a dripping faucet, a faucet drip can waste 20 gallons of water or more in one day;  
• filling or topping off a swimming pool; 
• watering the lawn, new grass or trees,
• kids home for summer vacation or school holidays; 
• guests or additional occupants in the home that increase overall water consumption; 
• a broken water pipe or obvious leak (check pipes in the basement or crawl space); 
• a leaking water heater; water softener problems, including devices that continuously cycle and 
• water-cooled air conditioners or running water to avoid freezing water pipes during cold weather 

Leaks, whether unseen or unrepaired, can waste hundreds and even thousands of gallons of water. It is important to routinely check your home plumbing, outside taps and irrigation lines.

To restore service, please contact our office at 281.652.1603 during working hours. Online payments and/or payments made via check will not restore service. Must pay the past due amount plus the processing fee, $50 to restore service. If applicable, an additional deposit will be required if the service is disconnected twice within 6 months.

The additional deposit is $75 for residential accounts and $170 for commercial accounts. For more information, visit this link.