Directors Tour District’s Facilities

Each year at this time Harris County WCID 114’s (the District) directors tour the District’s fresh water and waste water facilities with the District’s engineer and operator. These facilities consist of 3 water plants (where the District’s water wells and ground storage tanks [GST] are located), which pump and store fresh water, and 5 gravity-fed lift stations, which collect and transport waste water to the Kleinwood Joint Powers Wastewater Treatment Plant located near Meyer Park (the District is one of the Plant’s six owners). Additionally, Water Plant No. 1 is where the District connects to the North Harris County Regional Water Authority’s (NHCRWA) system for the receipt and distribution of surface water, a process mandated by law in order to help reduce subsidence.

The purpose of the tour, which generally lasts three hours, is to view those capital improvements recommended by the engineer and operator, as well as to ask them to take corrective action for items noted during the tour.

Directors, from left to right, Renee Alfaro, Steve Feldman, Robert Robertson and James Sibley (director Doug Malloy is not pictured)

Directors, from left to right, Renee Alfaro, Steve Feldman, Robert Robertson and James Sibley (director Doug Malloy is not pictured)

One of the District's 5 Lift Stations

The inter-connect with the North Harris County Regional Water Authority

Water Plant No. 1 and its two Ground Storage Tanks

Water Plant No. 1 and its two Ground Storage Tanks

The inter-connect with the North Harris County Regional Water Authority

One of the District’s 5 Lift Stations

What are the different charges on my water bill?

WCID 114’s current water bill charges for up to 15,000 gallons monthly usage- $62.85, which is comprised of the following:

Water – $16.25

  • Base rate for up to 10,000 gallons is $10.00
  • Usage above 10,000 gallons is charged an additional $1.25 per 1000 gallons usage – $6.25

Sewer – $10.00

  • Flat fee per month

North Harris County Regional Water Authority (NHCRWA) – $36.60

NHCRWA is a governmental entity created by the Texas Legislature and charged with the responsibility to help reduce subsidence.  WCID 114 is required to purchase the majority of its water from NHCRWA, which currently comes from Lake Houston. While currently NHCRWA charges WCID 114 $3.05 per 1,000 gallons of usage (the rate may change each year), WCID 114 subsidizes 20% of this cost, charging its customers currently $2.44 per 1,000 gallons used.

For more information about the NHCRWA, please visit their website at www.nhcrwa.com.

Beat the Freeze: Protect Your Pipes!

Harris County WCID is responsible for the fresh water line which ends at a property’s water meter; the property owner is responsible for the fresh water line to the house, which typically runs up the side of an outside wall before entering the house, and may include a connection to an in-ground sprinkler system. During unusually cold weather, generally temperatures which remain below freezing for a number of hours (a “hard freeze”), the water in the above-ground portion of the property’s water line and sprinkler system-connection can freeze, resulting in costly damage [including a burst backflow preventer]. The following You Tube video is intended to inform the District’s customers as to how to prepare their exterior water connections in order to avoid damage from a hard freeze.