HOUSTON – If you live in Houston your next water bill will cost you more. While the Houston Water Department works to fix its broken billing and metering system, the next water rate increase is set to take effect on April 1, 2025.
This will be the fifth increase since 2021. KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis explains the new rate increase and what customers can expect.
In June of 2021, Houston City Council voted to increase water rates every year on April 1 through 2026.
The plan aims to collect nearly $2 billion needed for required repairs to water infrastructure over the next 15 years. KPRC 2 Investigates has been tracking these changes to show how much bills are increasing each year. The exact amount customers will pay depends on water usage and meter size.
A Houston Public Works Representative says the average customer bill will see about a 6% increase. The increase varies every year.
Here’s one example from a homeowner who uses 10,000 gallons of water a month -
- $112 in February 2021
- $249.63 in February 2025
- This will go up beginning April 1st.
Davis talked with Houston Public Works Director Randy Macchi earlier this year. He expressed his concerns.
“I’m sensitive to our customer’s needs. Water rates going up hurts just as much as eggs at the grocery store or gas at the fuel station. We are really acutely aware of that. But at the same time, we’re also acutely aware of our mission to deliver treated water to homes to make sure that people don’t have sanitary sewer backups into their showers.”
Macchi also highlighted the challenges in infrastructure maintenance.
“We haven’t done an adequate job of replacing percentages of our infrastructure each year. Most times, it’s recommended that you replace at least three percent of all of your pipeline per year. We haven’t done 3% in 10 years.”
In 2024, the average Houston water bill increased by about 9%.
The first phase of Houston’s water bill improvement plan is nearing completion. However, instead of improvements, many customers are reporting higher bills than before the mayor’s promised changes.
Did you know the more water you use the higher your water rates are?
Once you hit 5,000 gallons a month or more of water usage you are paying significantly more for every gallon of water you use compared to someone using just 3,000 or 4,000 gallons of water.
You can set up and check your online water bill account on the Houston Water Bills website.
‘DRAINED’ results - changes for Houston water customers
The years-long KPRC ‘DRAINED’ Investigation led to massive changes to the water billing system but also indictments related to shady contract dealings. Take behind-the-scenes look into the years-long ‘Drained’ investigation.
