Several residents reached out to our Click2Houston Help Desk after experiencing long wait times to get water leaks fixed in their neighborhood.
Officials with the City of Houston Public Works Department said the reason why water leak repairs are taking longer than normal are because there are over 1,400 backlogged work orders. They said those orders consist of water leaks, valve, and fire hydrant issues. According to officials, the city’s aging infrastructure and weather are to blame.
KPRC 2’s Corley Peel spoke with neighbors in Upper Kirby who said a water leak coming from a construction site has been gushing into Colquitt Street for roughly two weeks.
“It’s annoying. The biggest problem is it’s just a waste of city resource. We called it in pretty promptly. Several neighbors called it in,” said Ben Mayer.
Dean Putterman said he sees the leak from his balcony.
“If it was just a beautiful fountain that would be one thing, but it’s just water going down the toilet,” said Putterman.
City officials said the lost water seen in the street is not costing taxpayers money. The money people pay on their regular water bills goes towards improving infrastructure.
Neighbors question if they’re paying the city to fix the infrastructure, why are there still so many leaks?
The city said in order to fix the ongoing problem, state and federal assistance is needed. According to officials, replacing six percent of aging waterlines could save Houston 21 billion gallons of water.
Officials said the city plans to fix the water leak in Mayer and Putterman’s neighborhood on Sunday.
“That would be nice if that was the case. I guess we will see. I don’t believe it. I’ll believe it if it happens,” said Putterman.
The city adds, if you don’t have water service, your work order becomes a priority.
Officials encourage residents to include if they do not have water service when they contact 311, so they can be bumped up on the list.