A Houston Heights homeowner says he was stuck paying for an irrigation meter he never used, and a city customer service rep told him there was no way out. That turned out to be flat wrong. Houston now lets property owners cap inactive irrigation meters for a one-time fee, a policy change that grew out of KPRC’s years-long "DRAINED" investigation into the city’s water billing mess.
Mark, who reached out to KPRC’s ENOUGH team after spotting the mystery charge, says he was bluntly told that an irrigation meter could not be capped. Investigator Amy Davis checked into it and found that is not how the rules read. As reported by Click2Houston, customers "can now pay a one-time $150 fee to cap an inactive meter, including irrigation meters, and lock it so no further charges are applied," contradicting what Mark says he was told.
What the ordinance actually says
The policy shift is part of the City of Houston’s Water Bill Improvement Plan, which updated city rules to make it easier to fix billing errors and adjust problematic accounts. According to Houston Public Works, crews have been swapping out malfunctioning remote-read devices and rolling out customer service upgrades in an effort to cut down on surprise bills. The department directs anyone with billing questions to call Utility Billing at 713-371-1400.
How 'DRAINED' pushed reform
The KPRC 2 "DRAINED" investigation kicked off after hundreds of Houstonians reported eye-popping water bills that investigators traced to faulty meters, bad billing and a corruption scandal inside Public Works. As detailed by Click2Houston, the probe led to indictments and plea deals. Former Public Works manager Patrece Lee ultimately took a plea and was sentenced to 10 years in early 2025. The reporting also helped spur internal reviews and ordinance tweaks aimed at preventing future overcharges.
City Hall response
City Council advanced a broad overhaul in 2024, scrapping a controversial section of the water-billing ordinance that had tightly limited how employees could correct customer accounts and clearing the way for more relief options. The Houston Chronicle reported that the repeal, along with Mayor John Whitmire’s water-bill plan, was pitched as a way to rebuild public trust after a flood of customer complaints.
What to do if you’re being billed
If you see charges tied to a meter you do not use, Houston Public Works advises calling Utility Billing at 713-371-1400 to ask about capping the meter and requesting account adjustments. For disputes that are not getting resolved, residents can also contact their city council representative through the City of Houston website, according to the City of Houston’s official site.
Bottom line for Houston water customers: if your statement includes fees for an irrigation meter that is sitting idle, do not just shrug and pay it. There is now a clear, paid option to permanently cap that meter and stop future charges. For the moment, the work that started with local reporting has translated into concrete policy changes that give residents a more straightforward path to clean up water-billing headaches.
