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Ask Amy episode: ‘DRAINED’ Investigation into Houston water bills

This week’s Ask Amy episode is all about the City of Houston water bills. After our week-long series ‘DRAINED’ in November, we have received hundreds of complaints from customers asking for our help with very large bills they don’t think they owe.

You can watch the video in the player above.


Houston Public Works Director answers our questions/concerns about your water bills

Back in November, the Director of Public Works Carol Haddock revealed the reason many customers are getting inaccurate bills is that the remote reading devices that are attached to everyone’s meters are old and broken. She said about 40% of them are not sending meter reading back to the department.

Investigator Amy Davis sat down again with Haddock to ask questions about the meter readings and what else is being done to help people who are having issues with high bills. On this episode of Ask Amy, you can watch the entire interview.


Scroll to timecodes to listen for specific topics

4:45 Progress of remote read technology

10:00 Usage alert for bills

11:30 changes to bills so customers are aware of what is happening

18:02 City hiring new workers, other processes that will change to help customers

21:00 new guidelines on back billing customers

22:00 what happens when you dispute a bill

28:00 Haddock addresses questions about customer complaints

Helpful links mentioned in Ask Amy episode

Changes the city has made to bills

Complete ‘DRAINED’ KPRC 2 Investigates series, New round of ‘DRAINED’

How to sign up for high usage alerts for your water bill


Email AskAmy@kprc.com if you have a story idea or question!


About the Authors
Amy Davis headshot

Passionate consumer advocate, mom of 3, addicted to coffee, hairspray and pastries.

Andrea Slaydon headshot

Award-winning TV producer and content creator. My goal as a journalist is to help people. Faith and family motivate me. Running keeps me sane.

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