HOUSTON – A Houston homeowner is refusing to pay his February 2025 water bill after receiving a bill showing he used 51,000 gallons, far exceeding his typical monthly average of under 10 gallons.
“I expected it just to be a regular water bill around $50 to $54,” said Kyle Kleeman. “I opened it and all of a sudden saw that it was about 51,000 gallons of water being used.”
Concerned about the discrepancy, Kleeman reached out to Si Environmental LLC, the water utility company that supplies his home. Following their advice, he hired a plumber to check for leaks, only to find none on his property.
A spokesperson for Si Environmental LLC told KPRC 2 Rilwan Balogun they regret telling Kleeman to hire a plumber because it goes against company policy. The person said they typically send a technician out to check for leaks first.
“At the end of the day, whatever water that goes through that meter is the customer’s responsibility,” the spokesperson said. “It is a high bill, and we are trying to figure it out.”
“So now I’m just a frustrated homeowner trying to figure out where we go from here,” he expressed.
Kleeman showed Balogun his previous bills which all corroborated his claim that his family of four used less than 10 gallons of water a month.
“The water district is saying that the water went through the meter, and I’m being held accountable for that,” he said. “I didn’t use that water, and I’m not gonna be proven guilty. I did not use that water. Looking at the previous records, it shows that we didn’t use it.”
“I wanna get this done ASAP, and I wanna be just held accountable to what I used,” Kleeman said.
The spokesperson said it is up to the MUD district board of directors to determine how to move forward.
“Nothing has been resolved, but we’re doing everything; we’re performing our procedure as per our contract with the MUD, through the rate order. That’s what we follow,” a Si Environmental LLC spokesperson said. “We will not charge them a late fee because the bill is in dispute. We are not forcing him to do anything. We are going through our normal process. This is a normal occurrence, and we will do everything we can to help the customer out.”
