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DWSD to
host
Water
Assistance
Fair to
help
customers
avoid
disruption
in
service
DETROIT
- On
Saturday,
April
30, 2016
from
8:30
a.m.
until
2:30
p.m.,
the
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
(DWSD)
will
host a
Water
Assistance
Fair to
help
customers
who are
past due
on their
water
bills
with a
payment
plan to
avoid
water
shut-offs.
The fair
will
take
place at
the
department’s
eastside
location,
13303
East
McNichols
in
Detroit.
On hand
will be
representatives
from
DWSD’s
customer
care
department
as well
as
representatives
from
Wayne
Metropolitan
Community
Action
Agency,
administrators
of the
Water
Residential
Assistance
Program
(WRAP).
WRAP is
a
financial
assistance
program
to help
low-income
residents
with
help on
their
water
bill.
DWSD is
developing
the fair
in an
attempt
to avoid
a
disruption
in
service
for
residential
customers
who are
delinquent
on their
payments.
Beginning
May 1,
DWSD
will
begin
shutting
off the
services
of
delinquent
residential
accounts
who have
not made
arrangements
for a
payment
plan.
Earlier
this
year,
the
department
took an
aggressive
approach
with
commercial
accounts
to
collect
the more
than
$1.7
million
in past
due
payments.
While
more
than
30,000
commercial
and
residential
customers
are
currently
on a
payment
plan and
not at
risk for
shut-off,
23,000
customers
have
defaulted
on their
payments
and are
subjected
to
having
their
services
interrupted.
“Our
priority
is to
get
customers
who have
defaulted
on their
payment
arrangements
back
into
their
plan to
avoid a
disruption
in
service,”
said
Gary
Brown,
DWSD
director.
“While
the
majority
of our
customers
pay
their
bills on
time, we
want to
help
customers
who have
fallen
behind
on their
water
and
sewer
account
and who
are
having
difficulty
paying
their
bill. We
urge all
residential
customers
who need
to be on
a plan
to join
us this
Saturday
April 30
to meet
with
representative
who can
help
with
payment
plans.”
The
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
has both
the WRAP
and the
10/30/50
Plan to
assist
customers.
WRAP is
a
payment
assistance
plan to
help
low-income
Detroit
residents
with
their
water
bill.
Launched
on March
1, 2016,
WRAP
provides
qualifying
residential
customers
who are
at or
below
150% of
the
federal
poverty
threshold
with the
needed
assistance
to pay
current
and
past-due
water
bills.
Eligible
customers
will
receive
a $25.00
monthly
credit
toward
current
bills
with any
arrearages
frozen
for
12-24
months.
Customers
who
successfully
make
their
monthly
payments
can
receive
up to
$700 in
credits
toward
their
past due
bill.
WRAP
also
includes
a water
conservation
audit if
a
household’s
water
usage is
above
20% of
the
average
usage in
the
city.
For
further
information,
customers
can
contact
Wayne
Metropolitan
Action
Agency
at
www.waynemetro.com/wrap.
The
10/30/50
Plan is
open
only to
Detroiters
and
unlike
the
WRAP,
has no
income
restrictions.
Under
the
plan,
customers
pay a
minimum
of 10
percent
of their
past due
amount
with the
remaining
arrearage
spread
over a
12-24-month
period.
If a
customer
misses a
payment,
they may
re-enter
the plan
paying
30 or 50
percent
of their
past due
amount.
To find
out more
about
the
Water
Assistance
Fair or
to make
payment
arrangements,
customers
should
call the
DWSD
Customer
Care
Department
at
313-267-8000.
About
the
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
The
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
(DWSD)
serves
more
than
200,000
Detroit
residential
and
commercial
customers.
DWSD’s
water
network
consists
of more
than
2,700
miles of
transmission
and
distribution
mains
and
nearly
3,000
miles of
sewer
collection
piping.
To learn
more
about
the
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department
or to
request
water
services,
make
payments,
or
report
water
problems,
call
Customer
Care at
313-267-8000
or
contact
us at:
www.detroitmi.gov/dwsd.
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