May is kicking off with a wave of change for Houston's water bill system. Single-family residential customers will start to see a fixed usage charge on their water bills, a move orchestrated by Mayor John Whitmire's Water Bill Improvement Plan. This measure, rolled out by Houston Public Works, strives to give residents predictability in their billing as upgrades and checks to the water metering system are underway.

Notified last month by mail, the residents are now set to receive their water bills, all uniformly printed on blue paper, as a signal of this shift. Depending on their billing cycle, they'll be charged based on the age of their account. Using calculations that steer clear of anomalies such as drought and winter storm periods, households with more than a year on the books will see their average water consumption used as a benchmark for billing purposes. Fresh accounts, however, are assigned a flat rate consumption of 3,000 gallons monthly — reflective of the average new customer's usage.

The City isn't looking to penalize frugality or unexpectedly high usage, at least not during this transitional phase. Should a customer's remote reading device be in working order and they use less than the predetermined set usage, they'll only be billed for their actual consumption. Those using more won't see additional charges provided their usage device is working correctly, according to a statement obtained by the announcement.

Questions and concerns haven't been left to drift in the bureaucratic sea, either. Residents are encouraged to check their remote reading device’s status on the Houston Public Works dashboard or dial up the hotline. The city has even opened up its doors, offering Tuesday through Thursday appointment slots at their Water Customer Service Office — with a virtual meet-up for those tied down, unable to make the physical trip.