We live in an area only serviced by Aqua Texas. The water pressure has always been very weak and the water quality has always been poor, but we have adapted to it (bottled water and planning on when water is turned on and off).
This past week, we received a notification that water restrictions are being implemented, and a long list of prohibited activities was sent. Well, WE received notifications - several friends in the subdivision next to us did not receive any notification. We called Aqua Texas and they said it's possible they "forgot to mail them" and "it's a good thing you called because we would have put flow restrictors for punishment on all their water mains even if they hadn't received notice of the water restrictions."
On Friday of last week, Wednesday this week and today, we have woken up to absolutely no water at all. No water to flush the toilets, no water to take a shower or shave, no way to get ready for work. One of our neighbors said he finally resorted to jumping in the pool to try and rinse off enough to look respectable to go to work.
When the water does come back on, there is so much air in the line that just the simple act of the toilet tank refilling with all the air/water in the line made the toilet rock on the seal - it sounded like it was going to explode.
At no time did Aqua Texas notify their customers that they were doing work on the well or that water would be turned off. Now, after Wednesdays "wake up with no water" episode, we called Aqua Texas to find out what was going on. They said there was work being done but that it was all finished and there would be no more water outages.
So, in the spirit of conservation and using water late so as not to interfere with people showering, etc., I set the dishwasher Wednesday night to start at 3:00 in the morning. Little did I realize that Aqua Texas had lied to me - they once again turned off the water, so my dishwasher tried to run with no water. When I woke up at 4am, I walked out of the bedroom to the smell of hot electrical wiring. I'm not certain if the dishwasher is still working or not.
I contacted Aqua Texas again and their attitude had certainly gone downhill. The informed me that it was impossible for them to notify their customers that they were shutting the water off. (apparently they could notify us about water restrictions (well, some of us), but not about when they were going to turn off water service so we could make arrangements). They also said their notification was two handwritten signs stuck in the ground at the entrance to the subdivision about a mile away.
They continued on that the well might be fixed today, might not, couldn't let me know, but their suggestion was to not delay-start any appliances until after the well was fixed, whenever that might be. When I told her that they said the well was fixed yesterday, the attitude came out and she said, "I SAID, don't delay start any appliances." I then decided to be brave and ask when we would know that the work was completed. She said, "If you have water when you wake up, we're done." Seriously. That was the answer.
So basically, I may have a ruined dishwasher, Aqua Texas lied about their well repair project, now they can't tell me when it's supposed to be finished so I get to wake up every morning and hope there may actually be water, they can't notify their customers that they are turning off their water, they're pumping so much air into the lines that fixtures are being damaged, and they could care less so stop calling them. Oh, and not to mention that I get to pay $75 for the priveledge of being able to say they are the water provider before they start to overcharge me for any water I might be able to use.
Aqua Texas should not be allowed to operate, in any state at any time. For a basic utility that everyone needs, a company should not be allowed to just randomly take that utility away without notification - what about the elderly? It's over 100 degrees here - how am I supposed to water my pets? Do I need to buy bottled water because the utility is so unreliable? Please. Please, please, please, allow someone else to supply water instead of Aqua Texas.
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