Hurricane season is here, and it’s crucial to prepare. This includes knowing your hurricane risk, making an emergency plan, and understanding evacuation routes. Additionally, having a readily available emergency kit with essentials like food, water, and first-aid supplies is vital.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

1. Know Your Risk:

• Hurricanes can affect areas far inland, not just coastal regions.
• Understand how wind, water, and even tornadoes could impact your location.
• Identify if you live in a flood-prone area or an evacuation zone.
• Assess your home’s structural weaknesses (e.g., windows, garage door).

2. Develop an Emergency Plan:

• Create a plan that includes everyone in your household, including pets.
• Practice your evacuation plan, including routes and designated meeting places.
• Have a communication plan in place to stay connected if separated.
• Consider the needs of children, the elderly, and those with disabilities.
• If you have pets, ensure they are accounted for in your plan.

3. Gather Supplies:
   • Water – 1 gallon per person per day for drinking and sanitation, for at least 3-7 days.
   • Non-perishable – food enough for 3 days for evacuation and 14 days if staying home.
   • First-aid supplies – including medications, especially prescriptions.
   • Flashlights and extra batteries – essential for power outages.
   • Fully charged cell phone and charger. Consider a car charger or portable charger.
   • Important documents – in a waterproof container or resealable bag, including insurance information, medical records, and important contact numbers.
   • Pet supplies – Food, water, medications, and carriers.
   • Cash – In small bills, as ATMs may be unavailable.
   • Other items: Toiletries, hand sanitizer, garbage bags, and tools.

4. Stay Informed:

• Have multiple ways to receive alerts and local emergency notifications, such as Ready Harris Alerts or the FEMA app for text message updates. .
• Be aware of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA).

• Monitor trusted weather sources and official announcements from local authorities and the National Hurricane Center.

5. During a Hurricane:

• If ordered to evacuate, leave immediately.
• If not under mandatory evacuation, consider your options and follow official guidance.
• Never drive through flooded roads or across closed bridges.
• Stay tuned to emergency updates and follow instructions from local officials.

Additional Tips:

• Secure loose items outside your home, such as lawn furniture and trash cans.
• Trim trees that could fall on your home.
• Prepare for potential flooding by cleaning drains and gutters.
• Review your insurance coverage, including flood insurance.
• Consider elevating your heating system, water heater, and electric panel.
• Fill bathtubs and containers with water for sanitation purposes.
• Turn off utilities if instructed by authorities.
• Have a communication plan with family and friends outside the affected area.
• Know where to move your car for safety during the storm.
• Ensure pets have proper identification, food, water, and medications.

By taking these steps, you can significantly improve your preparedness and safety during the 2025 hurricane season.

Many times, when MUD 208’s operator, H2O Consulting, responds to customer’s requests to check their meter and a leak is found on the house water service line, the customer is surprised to learn that the repair is the customer’s responsibility. MUD 208 is responsible for providing water up to and through the water meter. The customer is responsible for the water service line from where it is connected to the water meter all the way up to their house. Likewise for the sanitary sewer service line, the home owner is responsible for the sewer piping from the house to its connection to the main sewer line. Even if the water service line or sewer service line is outside the homeowner’s property boundary, it still falls within the homeowner’s responsibility for maintenance and repairs.

The following sketch depicts and clarifies the homeowner’s vs MUD 208’s responsibilities:

As a resident of M.U.D. No. 208, you have access to a smart meter that allows you to monitor your daily water usage through a personalized web portal. With this tool, the EyeOnWater app, you can track how much water your sprinklers use and detect potential leaks. Unfortunately, many residents are not taking advantage of this FREE tool. This App also allows the user to set up text or email alerts for unusual spikes in usage, helping you spot leaks and resolve issues before they escalate.

Now, for a limited time, new first-time users will receive a one-time $10 credit on their water bill when they sign up for the Eye on Water app.

With the app’s leak alert feature, if water is flowing continuously for 24 hours at a customer specified rate, say 1 gallon per hour, the customer is notified by a text and/or email that their household has a leak.  For example, the first graph below shows usage did not reach the set threshold line every hour so no alert is sent. In the second graph, usage exceeded the set threshold line every hour for 24 hours so an alert is sent.

Once a 24-hour period goes by with water flow less than the specified value, an alert is sent that the leak has stopped.

The EyeOnWater app lets you be in control. How’s that you ask? It allows you to engage with how you use water and see your latest water usage, understand how much water you use, detect leaks and discover when you use the most water. It also lets you:

• Quickly View your recent water usage with a two-week comparison.
• View detailed water usage history by day, week, month, and year.
• Discover your short and long term water usage trends
• Monitor your water usage, even when you are away from your home!

Plus, you can easily contact us! This is all simply at your fingertips and part of our service with the smart meters!

There are several ways to sign up for EyeOnWater. You can click on this link Smart Meter Account Sign Up which will send you to the smart water meter webpage on this website.  Another way to sign up is with your smart phone. Scan this QR code below to be directed to the EyeOnWater website or find EyeOnWater in the app store.

No matter how you sign up, you will need the following information to register your account:

• Your zip code
• 10-digit account number shown on your water bill – Example: 53208-XXXXX
• E-mail address (your e-mail address will not be sold or distributed)

Start taking control of your water usage – sign-up now!

Have you ever been driving down the street or out and about on a walk and see water coming out of a water meter or perhaps flowing out under a sidewalk? Prompt reporting is crucial to address potential emergencies swiftly.

M.U.D. No. 208 urges residents to report water or sanitary sewage emergencies promptly to our operator H2O Consulting by calling (281) 200-3388, available around the clock. Your swift action aids in timely repairs, preventing property damage and conserving our precious water resources. Please keep in mind every situation is different and in some cases a repair team will be dispatched immediately, while in other cases it may take a few days for repairs to be made.

When reporting, they’ll assess whether the leak originates from the districts’ infrastructure or within homeowners yard or residence. It’s essential for residents to locate their shutoff valves and understand the procedure for emergency shut-offs, ensuring swift containment of any leaks. Shut off valves can be located inside or outside the home or possibly in the garage.

The monthly water bill has 3 components, the Base Water Charge (District’s water rates), the Base Sewer Charge (District’s sewer rate) and the WHCRWA Charge (West Harris County Regional Water Authority rate). With higher water usage, especially during the summer months, the WHCRWA fee can be more than half of the total water bill.  So, what is the WHCRWA fee? The video accessed via the following link, https://www.whcrwa.com/what-is-the-whcrwa-fee/, helps explain the purpose of this fee. It should be noted that the WHCRWA fee is strictly a pass-thru cost to our customers, with no mark-up, and is currently at $4.35 per every 1,000 gallons used. The District has no control over the WHCRWA rate.

Have you ever gone out for a mid-morning walk or drive in your neighborhood only to find water flowing out of a fire hydrant with the familiar H2O truck nearby? This can be a concerning sight for many as it appears significant amounts of water are flowing straight into the storm sewer unused and wasted. You may be surprised to learn this process, called flushing, is an integral part of water systems routine preventative maintenance required by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). This flushing maintains the integrity of the water system and allows us to continue delivery of the highest quality water possible to our customers.

What is flushing?

Flushing is a process that rapidly removes water from the District’s water piping system, similar to the process of flushing a car’s radiator. Flushing uses water force to scour out materials that accumulate in the District’s pipes. Water pipes are usually flushed by opening fire hydrants, where the discharged water flows off the streets the same as rainwater.

Why are we flushing?

Imagine driving down the road at less than 1-1/2 miles per hour. That’s about the rate that water moves through underground pipes. This slow movement causes sediment like rust and mineral particles to build up over time and accumulate along the pipe’s bottom. A build-up of bacteria known as “biofilm” can also coat the pipe’s inner surface. This combination of sediment and bacteria can restrict water flow in the pipes. Also, some areas of the water distribution system have dead ends or low flow segments where water remains in the pipe longer and may slightly reduce the chlorine disinfectant levels in the water. Periodic flushing of the water system removes the sediments from the lines and refreshes the water in the dead end, low flow segments of the system.

Isn’t flushing a waste of water?

No. Any overall increase in the amount of water used in flushing is a small price to pay in maintaining water quality and the integrity of the piping system.

How will this affect you?

Usually, you will not be aware that flushing is even taking place in your neighborhood. Flushing is generally conducted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. It takes about 30 minutes to flush each hydrant. While the hydrant is being flushed, the homes on that block may experience slight drop in water pressure. Your water service should not be interrupted. The only sign that flushing has occurred in your neighborhood may be standing water in the roadway.