Vicky Maldonado’s southwest Houston auto shop went seven weeks without running water. Service has been restored, but the family-operated business still faces a $1,936 city water bill whose basis Maldonado says she does not understand.
Maldonado’s account of the outage and her efforts to get the line repaired was reported by Click2Houston, which said it reviewed her paperwork. She initially suspected construction near a METRO bus stop, but METRO told KPRC 2 it had not worked at that location since 2023.
A City Visit Follows the TV Crew's Arrival
Maldonado told KPRC 2 that a city representative came to investigate within hours of the station’s visit. Four days later, Houston Public Works crews replaced a failed coupling, restoring water service, the station reported. Maldonado said the station’s involvement helped bring her concerns to the relevant city departments and move communication along.
The repair did not resolve the billing question: Maldonado’s $1,936 bill was still under review when KPRC 2 reported the case. The station said it had contacted METRO and Houston Public Works to determine who was responsible for the original problem and repair delay, and how the bill would be settled.
Not an Isolated Complaint in Houston
Other Houston customers have raised concerns about meter accuracy. In a separate investigation, KPRC 2 reported that Houston Public Works identified 637 meters with incorrect registers and said it had replaced them all by the end of March. Of 44 customers who responded to the station’s letters, 25 said they had received neither notice from the city nor a refund or credit, according to KPRC 2 / Click2Houston.
One of those cases involved homeowner Edgar Zavala, who said a simple five-gallon bucket test showed his meter registering 22 gallons of use — more than four times what he’d actually used. After Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi was shown video of that test, a city crew replaced the meter register that same day, and the city credited Zavala’s account $872, as noted by KPRC 2 / Click2Houston. Elsewhere in southwest Houston, residents on the 7600 block of Meadowvale said they first reported a broken water pipe on August 19, and FOX 26 Houston reported that crews showed up to fix the leak shortly after the station emailed Public Works about it. Public Works told FOX 26 that city employees and contractors have closed about 4,000 water-leak work orders since June.
Billing Disputes Have Lingered for Years
Billing confusion tied to Houston’s water system isn’t new. Houston Public Works acknowledged a meter mix-up in May that led to years of inaccurate water bills for hundreds of customers, KPRC 2 / Click2Houston reported KPRC 2 / Click2Houston, and the station has said its reporting has covered problems ranging from rate increases and confusing statements to faulty meter readings and breakdowns in customer service. In one earlier case, a Kingwood couple received water-bill credits totaling more than $3,200 in February 2023 after the city said their meter had been misread — only for a customer named Shannon Ortega to later discover in 2024 that the city had quietly removed a remaining credit from her bill with no explanation, per a report from KPRC 2 / Click2Houston.
Houston Public Works says ordinance changes removed a limit of two leak adjustments per year, allowing customers to seek additional relief if multiple leaks occur, and provide a 100% credit on excess wastewater charges tied to qualifying leaks. The department says the changes took effect immediately; its description does not say whether Maldonado’s bill qualifies.
What city records say about tracking and upgrades
The City of Houston says it tracks 3-1-1 calls to help address reported issues, according to its contact information page. That information describes call tracking, but does not establish whether an audit or review of water billing, meter accuracy or customer disputes has been published. The city’s FY2026–2030 Capital Improvement Plan includes continued funding to replace neighborhood water mains, with system reliability among its stated goals. The plan does not identify Maldonado’s line or specify a southwest Houston project schedule that explains her outage.
What Houston Residents Can Do
For city-service problems, KPRC 2 advises residents to call 3-1-1 and request a service-request number, and to keep photos, emails, bills and records of conversations with city departments. Customers seeking a review of a water bill can contact Houston Public Works at 713-371-1400.
