Water use mystery stumps Cedar Park residents, officials

  • 2015-09-28
Many Central Texas residents, including those in Cedar Park, are wondering why their water bills have skyrocketed.

August saw many homeowners in Cedar Park, as well as in Austin and Round Rock, shaking their heads in disbelief when they opened their water bill. After a flood of email inquiries, city officials are checking to see if there may be a problem at their end.

One Cedar Park resident, Bob DuCharme, said his water use went from 2,400 gallons on his July bill to 12,000 gallons on the one he received in August. To make matters even more puzzling, DuCharme was not even home for most of the month, so with only one person there the water use should have gone down not up.

DuCharme’s meter appears to be working fine, and he has not found at leak on his property. He feels certain there must be fault in the city’s water handling program somewhere.

According to Jennie Huerta, the city’s Media and Communications Manager, Cedar Park has so far not identified any meter errors or billing malfunctions but they have not given up on solving the missing water mystery. Since June the city has seen a 93 percent increase in demand.

As residents review literature the city’s brochure printing service has provided, Huerta says the city is continuing to examine its entire system.