Water leak has plagued West U corner for years, city looking at fixes

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The city of Houston has been dealing with aging infrastructure, which means hundreds, if not thousands, of water leaks across the city every day.

In fact, in 2023 alone, the city lost 32 billion gallons of water, enough to supply the entire city of Fort Worth.

Action 13 has told you about some of those leaks, where neighbors call us asking for help when they can't get the city to show up to fix it. Here in West University, neighbors say a leak in front of a busy strip center has gone on for years. It's a problem that's been on and off for years, many times because of drivers that drive over a patch of grass, breaking lines, according to the city.

West University resident Lynn Shivers said, "Twenty years of this is pretty significant."

Shivers has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. He says the multi-year leak is a waste more than anything.

"It's a waste of water where no one seems to care. It seems everyone rides past it and doesn't pay attention to it," Shivers said. "It's a stream that runs that way, it's a perfect run to the gutter."

West University resident Bryan Lethtoe said, "I used to walk my son around to St. Mark's Middle School. It gets pretty mossy there, a trip and a slip hazard."

The leak is in the driveway of the strip center on Stella Link. Some businesses say they've seen the City of West University working on it, but the fix never lasts. Officials with the city blame drivers primarily, who take the turn too sharply and break the lines under the ground.

After our report, officials placed a large rock in the area. Within days, cars head already nudged into it.

The city says some of the leaks have been on the property owner while acknowledging fixing it from time to time when the problem has been on the city side.

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