13 Investigates: Billions in unaccounted water as Houston pipe repairs cost millions

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Water pooled on the side of the street where Peter Koelling took his dog for an afternoon walk.

The Houstonian said it wasn't the first time a leaking pipe caused a stream of water to flow down the street, and Koelling worries what might happen if the city doesn't come up with a better fix.

"It's more of an issue over the long term. We haven't planned properly for our infrastructure. We don't have a good system for repair and response, and some of these big gushes, they ought to be attacking them kind of based on the volume so that you're saving more water," Koelling said. "It has a lot of repercussions."

13 Investigates wanted to know how much water the city is losing in leaks and how much it costs taxpayers.

Our investigation found that while Houstonians were under water restrictions this past summer, the amount of water wasted due to broken city pipes wasn't in the millions - it was in the billions.

Houston Public Works reported 6.9 billion gallons of unaccounted water during three months this summer, which is enough water to fill more than 14,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Based on the city's water and wastewater rates, if a resident were to run that much water out of their tap, their water bill from the city would be $207 million.

"I know they've got a lot on their plate, but I think that it's not so much the Public Works Department, but our leadership. We need to plan for our future. We need to prepare our infrastructure for what's going to happen," Koelling said. "We've got to be better prepared."

Public Works is spending more and more each year to fix broken pipes. In 2021, the city spent $7.3 million on pipe repairs. The city spent $18.7 million on pipe repairs last year, and so far, it has spent $32.8 million on those repairs this year.

"Water isn't a luxury. It's something that everyone needs, and when water is just going onto the street right now because of all these water leaks, that's unacceptable. And so, that's something that really is a huge priority, and it needs to be for everyone, and I think that it is," Houston Councilwoman Amy Peck told 13 Investigates. "But we need to find ways that - just throwing money at it obviously isn't working, and so something else needs to be done."

We wanted to know what Public Works is doing to improve the city's water pipeline infrastructure, but the department declined our request for an interview.

Last week, we went to the City Council to ask Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner his thoughts on the increasing costs of repairing the city's broken pipes. When we asked Turner if we could talk to him, he wished us a Merry Christmas and walked away.

In a statement, the city said, "Houston Public Works crews and 12 contractors work diligently to repair water leaks in a timely manner and have repaired more than 7,000 water leaks since June."

The city also sent us a document showing two long-term projects totaling $9.3 million. Those projects aim to reduce the risk of future water leaks along six miles of pipes.

According to the city, from January through May of this year, the percentage of water unaccounted for in Houston was less than one percent each month.

When fire crews use a hydrant, any water they use would be considered unaccounted for, but we know leaks made up a significant portion of that figure this summer.

In June and July, more than 14% of water was unaccounted for, and in August, 18% was unaccounted for.

When we asked Public Works what is being done to prevent a surge in leaks next summer in case of another scorcher, we were told in that statement that the city cannot prevent leaks if there is extreme heat or drought in 2024.

"A lot of work is being done and definitely more so than in the last several months, and so it obviously isn't enough. If there's still water that's leaking everywhere, then more needs to be done," Peck said.

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