Roma residents are seeing increases in their recent water bill, all because of a new payment system the city implemented.

When Edward Alvarez's water bill showed up this month, it caught him by surprise.

"I've never seen it that high," Alvarez said. "Usually my monthly bills will be around $43. When they put the new system, it jumped to $65."

He says that jump in his bill came after Roma implemented a new payment process in June.

Alvarez is one of many customers who were impacted by a rocky rollout of that system. Some customers said their bills were in the hundreds.

"I understand that the people that experienced that, it makes it hard, because you're used to your monthly budget, and you get a really high bill," Roma City Manager Alejandro Barrera said. "We were not able to get readings on the meters, so we had to average out the bill based on your historical consumption, that's how much we billed you for May and June."

Barrera explained that to properly read how much water customers use, the new system needs a stable internet connection, something that's not available in all parts of the city.

"It caused a huge backlog," Barrera said. "In July, we were finally able to catch up and read meters, so the difference that wasn't read in May and June showed up in July."

To help customers pay the difference, they're offering discounts and payment plans. Residents just need to take their last few bills to city hall.

Barrera says next month, customers should see a normal bill.