Millions of Americans Are In Water Debt

Circle of Blue Investigates: More than 1.5 Million Residential Customers Owe $1.1 Billion to their Water Departments
 
Water debt has serious and potentially long-lasting consequences. It can result in the water department shutting off water to the home. Utilities tack on fees for late payments. To make a claim on payment, some cities use tax liens on the property, a collection method that adds additional fees and can result in foreclosure or the inability to take out a loan for home repairs.

Utilities Ordered To Forgive Customer Water Debt

Three cities are promoting the idea.

In Chicago, Baltimore, and Philadelphia city councils have passed legislation ordering their water departments to develop debt forgiveness programs, mimicking programs that some state regulatory commissions require for electric and gas corporations. 

Lack of Utility Data Obscures Customer Water Debt Problems

Inadequate data hampers understanding of who is most affected by overdue water bills.

Who is in debt? Are they mostly struggling families? Or are relatively well-off households forgetting to pay their bills? Are there pockets of water debt concentrated in certain areas of the city? Or is it scattered among neighborhoods?

Based on the responses from public records requests and interviews with water researchers, answering these sorts of questions is difficult with the data and analysis that utilities are currently bringing to the table.

Michigan Allocates $20 Million to Relieve Customer Water Debts

The state is using federal CARES Act funding to help residents pay off past-due water bills that accrued during the pandemic.

Michigan residents who are behind on their water bills will soon be getting some relief.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will distribute more than $20 million to 116 water utilities, through an intermediary, to cover water bill debt that their customers accrued since March 1 when the pandemic emergency began.

Nine Things To Know About Household Water Debt

Household water debt is complex. Here are nine fundamental things that you need to know to better understand the problem.

Detroit Water Debt – Interactive Data Dashboard

The Detroit Water Debt dashboard uses ZIP code-level data to show the nuances of the city's household water debt.

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