CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 When residents are asked how the city calculates wastewater charges, most give the same answer: they don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea how my wastewater is calculated,\u201d one resident said. Another added, \u201cI have zero clue.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re not alone. The city doesn\u2019t measure wastewater at all. Instead, it estimates each household\u2019s sewer use based on how much water they consume during the winter.<\/p>\n
The process is simple: Corpus Christi Water uses a customer\u2019s average water consumption from the December through February billing cycles to set wastewater charges for the next 12 months.<\/p>\n
Inside a small office at City Hall, Reba George, the assistant director of utility billing for Corpus Christi Water, oversees the staff who field thousands of questions about the system. She says winter is used because water use is typically at its lowest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not filling their pools or washing their cars\u2026 or watering their grass \u2014 well, we can\u2019t do that anyway,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n
Measuring wastewater directly isn\u2019t practical, she said. \u201cThe expense of that would be horrific \u2014 not to mention the maintenance of something with all that flowing through it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, relying on winter averages means even minor issues can have yearlong consequences. A running toilet, a small leak or an unnoticed irrigation problem during those months can significantly raise a customer\u2019s wastewater bill.<\/p>\n
For many residents, the system remains a mystery \u2014 until the charges show up.<\/p>\n
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