Houston Public Works

Name

Houston Public Works

Legal name

Houston Public Works

Website

https://houstonpublicworks.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1933

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Municipal Water and Wastewater Utilities

NAICS

Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213), Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925), Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction (23731), Water and Sewer Line and Related Structures Construction (237110), Administration of Environmental Quality Programs (9241)

SIC

Water Supply (4941), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623), Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services (4900)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Works & Municipal Infrastructure (Streets, Stormwater, Facilities) (BPAIACAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG), Public Works Departments (Streets, Bridges, Stormwater, Fleet, Maintenance) (BPAIALAD)

Keywords

• Municipal water utilities
• Wastewater treatment services
• Stormwater drainage management
• Public works infrastructure
• Construction permitting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Water and Wastewater Utility Billing: Utility Billing provides customer information, billings, credit, collections, and all meter-associated services to water and wastewater utility customers within the City of Houston. Generates over $600 million in gross revenue used to support and maintain the city's water and wastewater systems.
2. Water Contracting Services: Manages contracts for the sale of treated and untreated water, groundwater reduction programs, and emergency backup supply to wholesale customers including nearby towns and utility districts. Also reviews water district creations and annexations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Houston Public Works is a municipal government department that builds, maintains, and operates essential public infrastructure for the City of Houston. Core offerings include safe drinking water production and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, stormwater drainage and flood mitigation, street and bridge maintenance, traffic engineering, and construction permitting and regulatory services for residential and commercial projects.

Product overview

Houston Public Works is a municipal department providing essential public infrastructure services to the fourth-largest city in the United States. The organization operates as a single unified government department offering multiple interconnected services: Water and Wastewater Systems (producing and distributing safe drinking water via three surface water plants and 49 groundwater plants, treating wastewater through 38 treatment plants), Streets and Drainage (maintaining 16,000 lane miles of streets, 1,371 bridges, and extensive storm drainage infrastructure), Permitting and Regulatory Services, Infrastructure Planning, Utility Billing, Stormwater Operations, and Traffic Engineering. Supporting programs include the Houston Stormwater Master Plan, Water Bill Improvement Plan, Lead Service Line Inventory, Protect Our Pipes education initiative, and Water Conservation Programs. The department leverages the Houston TranStar partnership for transportation coordination and the 311 system for customer service requests. Houston Public Works serves approximately 2.3 million residents across 671 square miles with nearly 4,000 employees and an annual budget of approximately $3.5 billion.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Water and Wastewater Systems
• Utility Billing Services
• Streets, Bridges, and Traffic Infrastructure Maintenance
• Houston Permitting Center Services
• Water Contracting Services
• Stormwater Operations and Drainage Management
• Traffic Engineering Services
• 311 Service Request System
• Houston TranStar Transportation Partnership
• Water Bill Improvement Plan
• Houston Stormwater Master Plan
• Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) Program
• Roadside Ditch Re-establishment Program
• Protect Our Pipes Education Program
• Water Conservation Programs
• Infrastructure Planning and Development
• Office of Business Opportunity

Quantifiable outcome

• Treated over 172 billion gallons of water in 2021 through 7,000+ mile distribution system
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Houston TranStarcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHouston TranStar is a unique partnership of representatives from the City of Houston, Harris County, METRO and TxDOT who share resources and exchange information under one roof to keep motorists informed, roadways clear and lives safe in the fourth most populated city in the United States.
• Trinity River AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLake Livingston is operated and managed by the Trinity River Authority as part of Houston's water supply infrastructure.
• San Jacinto River Authority (SJRA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLake Conroe is managed by the San Jacinto River Authority. The City of Houston owns 70% share of Lake Conroe.
• Coastal Water AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoastal Water Authority manages Lake Houston as part of Houston's regional water supply system.
• American Water Works AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of Houston is a member of AWWA and AWWA's Partnership for Safe Water program for both treatment plant and distribution system optimization.
• Northeast Water Purification Plant Expansion PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArea water providers have come together to finance a major expansion of the Northeast Water Purification Plant, providing fresh drinking water and meeting the mandate to reduce the area's dependence on groundwater.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• New York City Department of Environmental Protection: NYC DEP operates the water supply, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure for 8M+ New Yorkers. It is the closest analogue in scale and scope to Houston Public Works, with comparable regulatory, capital, and operational complexity.
• Dallas Water Utilities: City of Dallas utility serving ~2.5M residents with water and wastewater services. Closely comparable in Texas municipal utility scale, regulatory regime (TCEQ), and customer base characteristics to Houston Public Works.
• Philadelphia Water Department: Provides drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services for Philadelphia under combined sewer system constraints (similar consent decree dynamics). Operationally analogous to Houston Public Works in combined water/wastewater/stormwater mandate.
• Phoenix Water Services Department: Provides drinking water and wastewater services to ~1.5M Phoenix residents. Comparable to Houston in large-scale municipal water operations, conservation programming (Houston won Water Conservation Challenge), and rapid growth-driven demand.
• Chicago Department of Water Management: Operates the City of Chicago's potable water and wastewater systems for ~2.7M residents. Closely comparable to Houston Public Works in municipal water utility scope, regulatory exposure, and large-meter customer base.
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power: LADWP delivers water and power to ~4M LA residents via an integrated municipal utility. Comparable to Houston Public Works in serving a major U.S. metro with municipal water/wastewater responsibility and large-scale capex programs.
• Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department: Provides water and wastewater service to ~2.3M Miami-Dade residents. Comparable to Houston Public Works in serving a hurricane-exposed, fast-growing metro with large consent-decree and climate-resilience capital obligations.
• Denver Water: Denver Water supplies treated drinking water to ~1.5M people in the Denver metro, operating a major surface water system and complex distribution network. Comparable to Houston in water treatment, supply rights, and infrastructure scale.
• San Antonio Water System: SAWS is the largest water/wastewater utility in Texas, serving the San Antonio metro with similar groundwater reduction, regional supply, and large-capex mandate to Houston Public Works.
• Atlanta Department of Watershed Management: Operates Atlanta's drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Similar municipal utility mandate to Houston Public Works, including combined sewer consent decree history and large-scale consent decree capex.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HouPublicWorks
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/HoustonPublicWorks
• Facebookfacebook.com/HouPublicWorks
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/city-of-houston
• Instagraminstagram.com/houpublicworks

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Houston Public Works