(a) 
All property owners, their agents and tenants shall be held responsible as consumers for loss of water due to leakage in pipes or plumbing. If lost water is not paid for according to the rates provided therefor, when payment is due, the water service shall be cut off by the water utility and not turned on again until all claims are paid. In the event of any change in tenancy in rental property where there exists, at such time, leakage, such condition shall be corrected to the satisfaction of the water utility before service will be restored.
(b) 
If any customer shall be indebted to the water utility on any account at his current or previous place of consumption, such service shall be discontinued by the city until payment in full, plus any service charge, is made.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
No plumber or any other person shall open the street curb stop after same has been closed by the water utility without a written permit first being obtained from the water utility.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
Two houses shall not be permitted to be supplied with one service pipe where there is a water main in front of the premises, but shall have separate service pipes, unless approved otherwise by the director of utilities.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
The water utility reserves the right to make all repairs and renewals of service pipes from the main to the meter, and it shall be unlawful for any other person to repair or renew service pipes from the main to the meter without first obtaining the written consent of the water utility.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
All buildings used as duplexes, townhouses, shopping malls, apartment houses, etc., shall be required to provide a separate connection and meter with the main for each dwelling or rental unit, if each tenant is responsible for his own water account. Upon noncompliance with this provision, the water utility shall cut off the supply for the entire building or any portion thereof deemed by it to be proper. If the entire water service to a multiple-unit building is provided through one meter and connection, the charges for water and sewer shall be the obligation of and paid by the building owner. If payment is to be made by the building owner through an agent, the owner shall furnish to the city written proof of the agent’s authority prior to initiation of utility service, or upon demand of the city.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
(a) 
The right is reserved in the water utility to temporarily discontinue and to reconnect, without notice, water supply to any and all consumers for any of the following reasons:
(1) 
Making repairs, connections, extensions, or cleaning of mains, machinery, reservoirs or any part of said water system.
(2) 
A known dangerous or hazardous condition exists for which service may remain disconnected for as long as the condition exists, including but not limited to, a public health nuisance as defined in sections 341.011 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, or there is reason to believe a dangerous or hazardous condition exists and the Customer refuses to allow access for the purpose of confirming the existence of such condition and/or removing the dangerous or hazardous condition.
(3) 
Service is connected without authority by a person who has not made application for service or who has reconnected service without authority following termination of service for nonpayment
(4) 
In instances of tampering with the water utility’s meter or equipment, by-passing the meter or equipment, or other diversion of service.
(5) 
The customer remits a check as payment to unlock or reconnect service, and the check is determined to be of non-sufficient funds.
(b) 
Outside of the above temporary reasons initiated by the utility, disconnection or discontinuing of water supply shall only be permitted for closure of a utility account. There shall be no temporary disconnection permitted when an existing utility customer does not intend to close the utility account. When an account is disconnected, reconnection fees shall be paid in accordance with fee schedule adopted by the city council and available from the city secretary.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
Unless a potentially hazardous condition exists, service shall not be disconnected on a day, or on a day preceding a day, when personnel of the Water utility are not available to the public for the purpose of making collections and reconnecting service.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
The water utility may not discontinue service to a delinquent residential customer permanently residing in an individually metered dwelling unit when that customer establishes that discontinuance of service will result in some person at that residence becoming seriously ill or more seriously ill if service is discontinued. Each time a customer seeks to avoid termination of service under this subsection, the customer must have the attending physician call or contact the water utility within sixteen (16) days of issuance of the bill. A written statement must be received by the water utility from the physician within twenty-six (26) days of the issuance of the utility bill. The prohibition against service termination shall last sixty-three (63) days from the issuance of the utility bill or such lesser period as may be agreed upon by the water utility and customer’s physician. The customer shall enter into a payment plan agreement.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
It shall be unlawful for any plumber or person, other than a contractor employed by the water utility, to tap any street main, make connections with the street mains or extend service pipes from the mains to the meters, and to place a curb-stop and meter box at the point, and all of such equipment shall be under the exclusive control of the water utility. Said tap and service shall be paid for by the person ordering the work done before work is commenced, according to schedule of prices shown in the fee schedule adopted by the city council and available from the city secretary.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
It shall be unlawful for any person except a member of the fire department or employees of the water utility to open or use water from a fire hydrant or to take off the cap without permission from the water utility, except for the use of construction water with the proper construction meter attached to the fire hydrant.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
(a) 
Meter-tampering, by-passing, or diversion are strictly prohibited, including any tampering with the water utility’s service equipment, bypassing the same, or other instances of diversion, such as:
(1) 
Removing a locking or shut-off device used by the water utility to discontinue service;
(2) 
Physically disorienting the meter,
(3) 
Attaching objects to the meter to divert service or to by-pass;
(4) 
Inserting objects into the meter; or
(5) 
Other electrical or mechanical means of tampering with, by-passing, or diverting service.
(b) 
Photographic evidence or any other reliable and credible evidence may be used to establish that a violation of this prohibition has occurred and to justify appropriate action by the water utility. A court finding of meter tampering may be used instead of photographic or other evidence, if applicable. Violation of this prohibition may be prosecuted to the extent allowed by law under the Texas Penal Code 28.03.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
If the water utility’s facilities or equipment have been damaged by tampering, by-passing, installing unauthorized taps, reconnecting service without authority, or other service diversion, a fee shall be charged equal to the actual costs for all labor, material, and equipment necessary for repair or replacement of the water utility’s facilities and shall be paid before service is reestablished. . All components of this fee will be itemized, and a statement shall be provided to the customer. Note: Payment of this fee will not preclude the water utility from requesting appropriate criminal prosecution for any act resulting in equipment damage or theft of service or violating this ordinance.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
Where water is used in the construction or repair of property or where water has not been turned on by the water utility for construction use on the premises, water shall not be turned on until a charge for service is paid. The water utility reserves the right to estimate the amount of water used.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
(a) 
All water meters and meter boxes furnished by the city shall remain at all times the property of the city, and shall be maintained and repaired by the city and shall be replaced when rendered by the director to be unserviceable through fair wear and tear. When replacements, repairs, or adjustments of any meter or meter box are rendered necessary by the act, neglect, or carelessness of the owner or occupant of any premises, and if not paid, service shall be disconnected.
(b) 
When any consumer of water is of the opinion that the meter through which the water is supplied is incorrect for any reason, he may make application to the water utility to have the meter examined and tested. It is provided further that the director may require such customer to pay a fee for removing and testing the meter. The fee for removing and testing the water meter shall be as provided in the fee schedule adopted by the city council and available from the city secretary.
(c) 
If any meter one inch (1") or smaller shall, upon testing, have been found to register over two percent more water than actually passed through it, based on a series of tests over the range of flow recommended by its manufacturer, another meter will be substituted and the fee charged in the application for such test will be credited to the person making the application and the account adjusted for a period not exceeding the most recent three months’ billing period prior to such test. If any meter one inch (1") or larger (upon examination and test) is found to register over three percent more water than actually passed through it, the same adjustment shall apply.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
If, in the judgment of the director, a check valve or backflow and backsiphonage device is necessary for the safety of the water system, he will give notice in writing to the customer to install such device immediately. Any such device shall be of a type approved by the director. The customer will install such approved device at his own expense, and failure, refusal, or inability of the customer to install such device immediately shall constitute a ground for discontinuing water service to the premises until such device has been installed.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
All persons operating boilers, air conditioning equipment or other water-consuming devices, which may become damaged due to the interruption of water service, and which are supplied directly with city water, do so at their own risk. The city shall not be liable for any damage that may occur on account of the water being cut off for any purpose, or on account of the breaking of any pipe or fixture by pressure of the water from the city mains.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
It shall be unlawful to build driveways or other driving surfaces or areas in such manner as to expose any meter or fire hydrant to damage from traffic. Whenever the property owner requests the moving of any meter or fire hydrant, such cost shall be the expense of the property owner.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or resell water from the city water utility for domestic or any other uses within or without the city without receiving a permit to do so from the city.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
(a) 
The use of any premises in the city in such manner that sewage is allowed to accumulate or flow upon the surface of any such property, or the discharge of sewage done in such a manner as to pollute the surface soil, the contamination of any drinking water supply, the infection of flies or cockroaches or the creation of any other nuisance within the city is hereby declared a nuisance, if connection with any line of the sanitary sewer system of the city exists which is adequate to handle such sewage.
(b) 
It shall be the duty of any persons owning or occupying improved property within the city which can be feasibly connected to the city sewer system to connect such property and the improvements thereon with the city water services if the same exist in the street, alley, or other public way or water right-or-way abutting the premises.
(c) 
Where city sanitary sewer service is not available in the abutting streets, alleys, or other public ways, or other utility rights-of-way, but subsequently is laid therein, it shall be the duty of the owner or occupant of such property whose sewage disposal is a nuisance as herein defined, within one year after the same becomes available, to connect therewith. Such connections shall be made subject to the applicable charges provided by the then-current ordinances of the city.
(d) 
It shall be the duty of the director to notify the owner or occupant of every building situated where there has been laid a sanitary sewer, and where there is sufficient water service from the city’s waterworks, to make connections with the city’s sanitary sewer. Any such owner or occupant of any building so situated who shall fail to make connection with the city sanitary sewer within sixty (60) days after receipt of such notice from the director shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)
(a) 
No connection for a fire sprinkler or fire service shall be permitted unless application therefor has been made and granted by the water utility and approved by the building official of the city. In no instance shall any connection be made with any fire sprinkler or fire service without the written consent of the water utility. Should it be found that any unauthorized connection has been made, or that any water has been used from a sprinkler or fire service for any other purposes than extinguishing a fire, or that a waste of water is permitted from such connection through leaks in the pipes or fixtures, the water service shall be cut off and not turned on until a meter of the size and kind prescribed by the director shall have been furnished and installed at the expense of the customer.
(b) 
The furnishing, installation, maintenance and inspection of all meters and services, checks, bypasses, valves, piping, and other appurtenances necessary for the installation and operation of fire sprinkler systems and fire services shall be the expense of the customer.
(Ordinance 2021-02 adopted 2/23/21)