Hey Windermere Oaks neighbors, if you want a clear picture of what life looks like after selling your water system to a private‑equity‑owned utility, you don’t have to imagine it. You can read it—straight from Texans across the state who are already living under the same model now headed our way with Central States Water Resources (CSWR).
Look at the pain and suffering which people are filing in PUC Docket 58124. These are real Aqua Texas customers describing real financial pain, real service failures, and real consequences of surrendering local control.
And remember: Aqua Texas is the very company Patti Flunker once said she “would love to get out to the community” in February 2020. Five years later, she did not get Aqua Texas but she did get CSWR, a company that will use the same private‑equity consolidation model, the same statewide rate strategy, and the same cost‑shifting practices. Just wait.
This is the future Windermere Oaks just voted itself into. (Unless we take corrective action …)
What Texans Are Telling the PUC Right Now
1. Houston (Heron Lakes Townhomes) – “We’re charged sewer fees for water that never enters the sewer.”
A 26‑year Aqua Texas customer explains that every gallon used outdoors—lawns, plants, trees—gets billed as sewer. Fixed‑income residents are watching bills rise for services they never receive.
2. Rosharon – “We were billed $816.81 in one month… for watering new grass.”
A couple documented how installing two pallets of St. Augustine required heavy irrigation. Aqua Texas billed every gallon as sewer, plus regional pass‑through charges, even though the water never entered the wastewater system. They also describe brown, debris‑filled water, repeated boil notices, and Aqua employees admitting they “don’t know what to do” with the treatment system.
3. Eagle Mountain Lake – “My monthly bill was $1,213.94.”
A Resort customer reports four‑figure bills, rancid water they cannot drink, and a rate design that punishes higher usage with skyrocketing volumetric charges. They plead for system‑specific cost data because Aqua Texas’s statewide consolidation hides true local costs.
4. Bullard – “Our rates doubled. Two people in the home. September bill: $610.13.”
A family with modest usage saw their bills jump from ~$170 to over $600. They describe the increases as “excessive and unfair,” especially for households with pools or seasonal irrigation.
5. Cypress (Spring West System) – “Bills increased 80%–112% at higher usage levels.”
A resident analyzed 453 billing statements and showed that Aqua Texas’s interim rates hammer customers with steep tiered charges and sewer billing on 100% of metered water, with no winter averaging. Their data shows fixed charges rising dramatically for 1‑inch meters and volumetric charges doubling at common usage levels.
Why This Matters for Windermere Oaks
Windermere Oaks is now on track to experience the same statewide cost‑shifting these Texans are documenting:
- Local costs will no longer matter. CSWR will roll WOWSC into a statewide portfolio, just like Aqua Texas did. Your bill will reflect corporate overhead, executive salaries, legal fees, and infrastructure in other towns—not Windermere Oaks.
- Seasonal usage will trigger massive spikes. Aqua Texas customers report $600, $800, even $1,200 monthly bills. CSWR’s model is the same: consolidate systems, impose statewide rates, and extract
blood from yourevenue. - Service quality does not improve. Rosharon residents describe brown water, debris, boil notices, and employees who admit they cannot operate the system. Eagle Mountain Lake residents describe rancid water they cannot drink.
- Once you sell, you cannot undo it. Communities across Texas now regret selling. They are begging the PUC for relief. They would buy their systems back if they could.
Windermere Oaks just crossed the same line.
This Post Is the First in a Series
Spicewood News will continue publishing real filings from Texans living under private‑equity water companies. Windermere Oaks residents deserve to see—plainly and directly—what happens when a community gives up local control and becomes part of a statewide revenue machine for PE Masters.
Your future water bills will not reflect Windermere Oaks. They will reflect CSWR’s statewide strategy.
And the filings from Aqua Texas customers show exactly what that looks like.