ttps://www.wethepeopleofdetroit.comThe Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is a

public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

that provides

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

and sewerage services for

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan and owns the assets that provide water and sewerage services to 126 other communities in seven counties. It is one of the largest water and sewer systems in the United States. In 2000, the utility utilized five water treatment plants using water from the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

and Lake Huron. In mid 2014, the DWSD had acquired significant debt and delinquent accounts, and talks of

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

were occurring. As of January 1, 2016, under the terms of the City of Detroit's municipal bankruptcy the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) was created with a $50 million annual lease agreement to the City of Detroit for 40 years, while the DWSD bifurcated to focus its services specifically on the water and sewer customers within only the city of Detroit.

Overview

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is a sprawling network covering 1,079 square-miles, servicing more than 40 percent of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

's population, and employing nearly 2,000 people. The DWSD is one of the most extensive and largest water and sewage systems in the United States. Along with serving the entire city of Detroit, it also serves the counties of Genesee, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Wayne, St. Clair, Lapeer and Monroe. In 2000, the network comprised 11,000 miles of

water main A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements. Definit ...

s and a storage capacity of 363 million gallons. In 2000, the DWSD provided water for around four million customers in Detroit and its metropolitan area. At this time, the department utilized five water treatment plants that were fed from three raw water intakes, two of which were sourced from the

and one of which was sourced from Lake Huron. The water treatment plants used the technologies of "pre-chlorination, rapid mix, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine i ...

disinfection". At this time, the five water treatment plants were Waterworks Park, Springwells, Northeast, Southwest and Lake Huron. In a 1992 survey, "nine of the 119 water purveyors that receive DWSD water indicated that considerable amounts of unlined cast-iron pipe were in place", and that "two-thirds of the eighteen survey respondents also indicated that red/rusty water occurrences were the most common cause of customer complaints". This was associated with the occurrence of iron uptake in the pipes.

Contemporary issues

As of March 9, 2020, the

City of Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the ...

has instituted a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Water Restart Plan to keep water flowing during the pandemic. Residents are eligible for this plan if their water service was recently paused because they missed a payment or if they received a notice that their service may be interrupted. This plan is in effect until December 31, 2020, and it costs $25 per month. Normally, residents pay almost four times that amount. The Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) reports that in the first 90 days of the Water Restart Plan, service was restored to twelve hundred occupied homes. Even in non-covid times, many residents in Detroit struggle to pay their water bills which leads to shutoffs. Detroit has been in a water crisis since 2014, the time that the city was in bankruptcy, when the DWSD shut off water of residents who had missed payments. In 2014, half of customers were behind on payments and the average amount of money customers who were behind on payments owed was $560. The numbers have only increased. One resident, Lisa Brooks, was in a payment plan with the DWSD that required her to pay $100 which amounted to 17% of her monthly income. Lisa missed some payments and turned t
We The People of Detroit
an organization advocating for water justice, and relatives for assistance. Lisa is not alone in her reliance of others for water. 80% of Detroit residents who do not have access to water in their homes share or borrow water from friends and family which potentially creates a transmission path for the coronavirus. The safety of residents during the time of the pandemic was a major factor in the government's decision to enact the Water Restart Plan. Separate from the COVID-19 Water Restart Plan, water activists have been fighting for a sliding-scale affordability program for water in Detroit for many years. Activists believe that this type of solution addresses the root of the problem which is that water rates are unaffordable for low-income households. However, city officials oppose sliding-scale programs and instead continue to focus on individual assistance programs like the Water Residential Assistance Program. It is unclear what will happen to residents when the Water Restart Plan ends at the end of this year though it is clear that the push for a more affordable, sustainable urban water system in Detroit will continue. , the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has taken on significant debt and delinquent accounts, and has been under discussion for potential

. Efforts to collect on overdue billing has been characterized as an effort "to get rid of the bad debt associated with the water department and prep the public entity for privatization". Per a June 2014 '' Democracy Now'' article:

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department says half of its 323,000 accounts are delinquent and has begun turning off the taps of those who do not pay bills that total above $150 or that are 60 days late. Since March, up to 3,000 account holders have had their water cut off every week. The Detroit water authority carries an estimated $5 billion in debt and has been the subject of privatization talks.

Efforts to shut off water to delinquent corporate accounts have been tepid at best. "Vargo Golf, which operates Palmer Park Golf Course and Chandler Park Golf Course, under contract with the city of Detroit tops the list, with a delinquent account balance of $437,714. Another Vargo Golf account for a separate property has a delinquent balance of $100,528." On his ''Daily Show'', Jon Stewart called out Ford Field and Joe Louis Arena on their delinquent DWSD accounts. In June 2014, activists from the Blue Planet Project had filed a "submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation ... activists say Detroit is trying to push through a private takeover of its water system at the expense of basic rights."

References

External links

* {{authority control Government of Detroit Public utilities of the United States Water management authorities in the United States Local government in Michigan Detroit River Metro Detroit Organizations based in Detroit Privatization controversiesbr>
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is a

that provides

and sewerage services for

and Lake Huron. In mid 2014, the DWSD had acquired significant debt and delinquent accounts, and talks of

Overview

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is a sprawling network covering 1,079 square-miles, servicing more than 40 percent of the

and one of which was sourced from Lake Huron. The water treatment plants used the technologies of "pre-chlorination, rapid mix, flocculation, sedimentation, filtration and

Contemporary issues

As of March 9, 2020, the

has instituted a

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department says half of its 323,000 accounts are delinquent and has begun turning off the taps of those who do not pay bills that total above $150 or that are 60 days late. Since March, up to 3,000 account holders have had their water cut off every week. The Detroit water authority carries an estimated $5 billion in debt and has been the subject of privatization talks.

Overview

Contemporary issues

References

Further reading

External links

Overview

Contemporary issues

References

Further reading

External links