City leaders to Houstonians' concerns of high water bills: 'We have to figure that out'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Many Houstonians are seeing dramatic increases in their water bills with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

The issue came up at Tuesday night's city council, bringing at least one resident to tears. Nearly two dozen residents came forward to complain about severely inaccurate water meter readings.

Mayor Pro-Tem Dave Martin told ABC13 on Wednesday that they are still trying to figure out what exactly is going wrong here.

The bottom line is some residents are seeing water usage estimates that are 10 times higher than normal. Commonly, that could be traced back to a water leak, but in most cases, they're not finding that.

In September 2022, Jan Adelman's bill said he used 29,000 gallons of water over a period of one month. At Tuesday's council listening session, he explained that was impossible because of his heartbreaking reality.

SEE ALSO: Action 13 steps in to help Houston man with his $50,000 water bill

His wife was sick and hospitalized for 19 days.

"So, there is no way we used that water throughout our home, and as a side note, my wife passed away less than a month after that bill," Adelman tearfully said.

Adelman poured his heart out to the city council on Tuesday.

He said now, a year later, he was slapped with another bill. The most recent one says he used 53,000 gallons of water during this past September.

"Ten times the amount of water of the previous month and enough water to fill my swimming pool three times," Adelman said.

The City of Houston billed Adelman over $1,538.

Martin said the city council is working on an ordinance change to address the financial burden the inaccuracies are putting on residents.

SEE ALSO: Midtown resident hit with $1,400 water bill that city told him was caused by private leak

"More relief for expensive water bills. What are we going to do about it in terms of dollars? Well, we have to figure that out, but there are many cases we heard (Tuesday) that defy logic," Martin said. "It is a mess, and we know it's a mess."

Adelman said a technician determined his meter wasn't working properly; therefore, there was no way of gathering an accurate reading.

"There is a myriad of problems, but part of it is you have great difficulty in getting through to anyone," Adelman said.

SEE ALSO: Houston family stunned by nearly $24K water bill following city's replacement of faulty devices

Thankfully, at the meeting, a representative followed up with each complainant.

Martin says the city will compile a report by the end of next week and go from there.

"I think the awareness was significantly increased, and I hope there is a concerted effort to get to the bottom of it," Adelman said.