ROUND ROCK (KXAN) — The City of Round Rock says it will waive excess water charges for customers who had leaks or busted pipes that caused their water usage to spike.
Those customers won’t have to pay for all that lost water from Feb. 12 to Feb. 24 during the historic winter storm. It was a storm so bad, KXAN’s chief forecaster Jim Spencer even said even the plumbers might need plumbers.
Round Rock says it will make adjustments to customers’ bills.
“Those with leaks will see a credit on future bills for excess consumption due to the weather event,” the city said in a statement.
Round Rock also says since the weather forced the city to close its offices, it will have to delay billing cycles. That won’t impact the number of days water customers have to pay for, just the timeline of getting and sending back their bills. Round Rock won’t charge penalties or disconnect any accounts that get a delayed bill.
They ask customers to call the Utility Billing office at 512-218-5460 if they have any questions or to report a leak.
What about Austin Water customers?
Austin Water says it will meet with Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk and the Austin City Council to look at ways to offer bill relief for customers. Cronk specifically asked Austin Water to come up with solutions for people whose pipes burst.
Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros has said multiple times that Austin Water wants to make sure it does not profit it any way from the winter storm.
“Austin Water doesn’t want to reap any financial benefit at all from this ice storm,” Meszaros said on Feb. 19.
Meszaros added the winter storm led to tens of thousands of water leaks in its system, which spiked demand 250% last week and led to the city’s second-ever citywide boil water notice. That boil water notice lasted for six days in some places, ending Tuesday.
