RICHMOND, Texas \u2013 Imagine moving into a new home and getting your first water bill \u2014 for $582.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what happened to Amy Doak, who has been living in Lakes of Mission Grove for about a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea that a water bill could be that high,\u201d Doak said.<\/p>\n
Her first Aqua Texas bill totaled $582.20. The bill includes a $100 service initiation fee, $170 for sewer, a $66 regional pass-through fee and about $240 for water usage.<\/p>\n
According to the bill, Doak\u2019s family used 20,000 gallons of water in 32 days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not make any sense at all. We\u2019ve never used that much water,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A first bill raises bigger questions<\/p>\n
Doak says she went back and looked at water usage from her previous home, located about a mile away.<\/p>\n
Her family of five, she says, had never used more than about 8,000 gallons in a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing from another neighborhood down a mile down the road, we averaged $120 a month,\u201d Doak said. \u201cSo it\u2019s a huge difference coming here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doak says the circumstances at her new home also don\u2019t explain the reported usage. The sprinklers weren\u2019t working until recently, she says, and the family had not filled its pool.<\/p>\n
Then she started looking through the neighborhood\u2019s online community page.<\/p>\n
What she found made her realize her bill might not be an isolated problem.<\/p>\n
Residents have posted complaints about high Aqua Texas bills dating back to 2017, according to Doak. She says homeowners have reported monthly bills ranging from $500 to $1,200, with some bills reaching even higher.<\/p>\n
One homeowner provided a bill totaling roughly $2,400.<\/p>\n
Residents say bills keep climbing<\/p>\n
Doak says residents have repeatedly questioned why their bills fluctuate so dramatically.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fluctuating up, not down, and there\u2019s no rhyme or reason to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some homeowners say they have stopped using irrigation systems because of the cost. Others say they have had plumbers check their homes for leaks.<\/p>\n
Doak says those steps haven\u2019t provided an explanation for what residents describe as widespread high bills.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make any sense that that increase would be that high. It\u2019s too much,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Residents are also concerned about the information available through Aqua Texas\u2019 online customer portal.<\/p>\n
Doak says the amount due was visible before she could access the detailed bill, and she noticed what appeared to be discrepancies between information shown in her billing history and the total amount due.<\/p>\n
Aqua Texas points to rates, usage and leaks<\/p>\n
Aqua Texas says its rates had not increased in about 20 years before the company filed a rate application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas.<\/p>\n
The PUC granted Aqua Texas interim rates this year while the broader rate case continues.<\/p>\n
The new structure includes tiered usage charges, meaning the cost per 1,000 gallons increases as customers use more water.<\/p>\n
Aqua Texas also says unusually high bills can result from increased usage, irrigation or leaks.<\/p>\n
Company spokesperson Jennifer Tuminelli told KPRC that customers who notice unusual usage should contact Aqua so the company can investigate.<\/p>\n
She said Aqua can review usage, check whether a meter is functioning properly and consider a leak adjustment when a qualifying leak is verified.<\/p>\n
There is not necessarily a cap on a customer\u2019s bill, according to Aqua Texas. If water is used, the customer is charged for that usage.<\/p>\n
But Doak says residents have questions about whether the reported usage is accurate in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these meters are original and maybe they\u2019re not working properly,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Doak is asking Aqua Texas to check the meters throughout the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe that all of us have leaks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rate case could affect hundreds of communities<\/p>\n
The concerns in Lakes of Mission Grove come as Aqua Texas seeks broader changes to its rates.<\/p>\n
Aqua Texas says the rate application is intended to recover capital investments, and the company has received interim rate approval while the PUC considers the larger request.<\/p>\n
The proposed rate structure includes significantly higher charges at higher levels of water usage.<\/p>\n
Residents say they\u2019re worried those rates could make already-high bills even more expensive.<\/p>\n
The issue also raises a larger question for homeowners: what options do they have when Aqua Texas is the designated water provider for their community?<\/p>\n
Unlike electricity customers, homeowners generally cannot simply choose another water provider.<\/p>\n
KPRC has received several complaints from Aqua Texas customers across the Houston area, not just in Lakes of Mission Grove.<\/p>\n
For Doak, the issue has become personal just one month into homeownership.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we are being robbed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Now, she says, she\u2019s worried about what the next water bill will bring \u2014 and whether the issue can be resolved before high water costs become a permanent part of the family\u2019s monthly budget.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RICHMOND, Texas \u2013 Imagine moving into a new home and getting your first water bill \u2014 for $582.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[148337,148339,148338,148340,27,29,28,3216,36859],"class_list":["post-426575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-aqua-texas-rate-case","tag-high-water-bills","tag-residential-water-billing","tag-richmond-water-bills","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-utilities","tag-water-bills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}