Saed Aabed

HON 1000
Nov 29th, 2014

Putting Out a Fire With No Water

In the past few years, the citizens of Detroit have seen more than their fair share of
problems. The city filed for bankruptcy, unemployment rates are more than 14 percent, tens of
thousands of homes are abandoned, and more and more residents fall beneath the poverty line.
This summer, Detroit residents were dealt another blow: more than 17,000 households in Detroit
had their water shut off by the DWSD (Detroit Water and Sewerage Department).1 The reason
the city cut off their water supply is due to the fact that the residents can not afford to keep up
with the monthly water payments. Many of those affected by the shut-offs were given no
warning.2 The shutoffs are just one small part of a larger human rights issue regarding poverty,
health and access to utilities.3 We ask ourselves, what steps can the city of Detroit take to ensure
that the water stays running for all its citizens living in poverty? Human right groups suggest the
city provide its residents with a fair payment plan to be able to pay their bills in smaller amounts.
Also, since the city fails to warn homes when they will lose access to water, it is only fair that
they give out warnings to when the city will turn off their water. By cutting off water to the low
income residents of Detroit, the DWSD is depriving them of a basic human right, and it is their
job to provide affordable bill payments plans and water shut off notices to its citizens.

Wahowiak, Lindsey. "Access to Water Surfaces as Human Rights Issue as Poor in Detroit
Lose Services." The Nation's Health 44.8 (2014): 1,1,20. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
2
Deen, Thalif. "U.S.: WATER CUT-OFF IN BANKRUPT DETROIT VIOLATES HUMAN
RIGHTS, SAY ACTIVISTS." Global Information NetworkJun 19 2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov.
2014 .
3
"Civil Rights Groups Call on United Nations Rapporteurs to Refer Human Rights Abuses in
Detroit Water Shut-Off Campaign to United States Government." Targeted News ServiceOct 16
2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014 .

This year, Detroit filed for bankruptcy being at over 18 billion dollars in debt.4 The city is
trying to fight back, but in the wrong way; cutting off water to its residents. In March, the city
hired a private outside firm for six million dollars to shut off water on home owners behind at
least two months in their bills. The smallest bill being at only 150 dollars. Further more, in June
the city council approved an 8.7-percent water rate increase.5 Not only was it hard to afford
water at first, but the city decided to increase the water cost and make it even harder on its
population. This is affecting nearly 100,000 people, including seniors, children and people with
disabilities.6 82 percent of the citys population is African American, and they are the majority of
the ones affected by this crisis.7 They are living with no water to wash their hands in, bathe in,
cook meals with, or drink. Without water there is no sanitation available to these homes.8 This
causes us to question the city of Detroits concern to their residents living in poverty and their
blatant disregard for the basic civil and human rights they are violating. Sherrilyn Ifill, President
and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said that "It is unconscionable that so
many Detroit residents are living without water, a basic human right.9 Water is not something
that should be granted to us. We can not survive without water daily, and it is something that
should always be available to us. With unemployment rates at a record high and the poverty rate
4

"Owe-Town; Detroit's Bankruptcy." The Economist Sep 06 2014: 32,n/a. ProQuest. Web. 30
Nov. 2014 .
5
Deen, Thalif. "U.S.: WATER CUT-OFF IN BANKRUPT DETROIT VIOLATES HUMAN
RIGHTS, SAY ACTIVISTS." Global Information NetworkJun 19 2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov.
2014 .
6
"Bankruptcy Judge Denies Motion to Suspend Detroit Water Shutoffs." Targeted News
ServiceSep 29 2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014 .
7
Wahowiak, Lindsey. "Access to Water Surfaces as Human Rights Issue as Poor in Detroit
Lose Services." The Nation's Health 44.8 (2014): 1,1,20. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
8
Detroit Shuts Off Water as it Tries to Collect Millions Owed. Washington, D.C.: National Public
Radio, 2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
9
"Civil Rights Groups Call on United Nations Rapporteurs to Refer Human Rights Abuses in
Detroit Water Shut-Off Campaign to United States Government." Targeted News ServiceOct 16
2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014 .

at about 40 percent, Detroit water bills are unaffordable to a significant portion of the
population.10 This is an issue that has lead to the involvement and investigations by the United
Nations. The United Nations experts have called this issue a "violation of the human right to
water and other international human rights. Other groups taking action against the city are The
ACLU of Michigan, The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and several other human rights groups.
Water crisis hotlines have also been set up to assist those in need of help.

Last month, the ACLU of Michigan and NAACP Legal Defense Fund wrote a letter to
Detroit city officials arguing that that the poorly implemented and unfair water shut-off policies
violates civil and human rights of residents, because it fails to provide them with adequate notice
before they shut their water off. They also fail to provide citizens with a hearing that takes into
account whether they actually have the ability to pay. These two organizations argue that
customers must be given a meaningful opportunity to be heard before they are denied access to
water. Before water can be shut off, citizens have a right to a notice and a opportunity to be
heard as to why they cant keep up with the bills. The city of Detroit fails in both of these.
According to DWSDs Interim Collection Rules and Procedures, when a customers bill
becomes delinquent (past due),the Department will issue two notices, first a past due notice,
followed by a final shut off notice. 11 Both of these notices in reality are useless. It is of no use
to the residents and does warn them that they are about to lose their water supply. By the time
they receive their late notice it will have been too late. Additionally, there are many reports that
the DWSD has failed to comply with even the notice requirements of its own policy. Under the
10

Deen, Thalif. "U.S.: WATER CUT-OFF IN BANKRUPT DETROIT VIOLATES HUMAN

RIGHTS, SAY ACTIVISTS." Global Information NetworkJun 19 2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov.
2014 .
11
City of Detroit Water & Sewerage Department, Interim Collection Rules and Procedures 3 4
(Jan. 22, 2003)

policy, customers must receive a final notice that states that they have ten days to pay the bill or
file a complaint disputing the bill before their service is shut off. Residents do not receive these
ten day notices from the department. The DSWD is telling its customers they will be given a fair
heads up notice, but they are not executing this. The city is ruthlessly shutting off water supply to
the poor, and is not telling them about it. The citizens deserve to know that this could happen to
their house. President of one of the organizations, Sherrilyn Ifill says, The DWSD must
immediately restore water to all its customer. In addition, they should create a reasonable
timetable for a hearing and appeals process, pending resolution of these issues.12 The
organizations suggest to the city that they ensure the DWSD provides its people with adequate
and multiple warnings as to when they will shut off their water. If the people were given
warnings, then they would be able to set money to the side and pay their bills in full and thus not
be behind months at a time. The system currently gives them no notice and goes against the
United States Constitution, the Fair Housing Act, as well as basic civil and human rights.13
An additional solution proposed by these same organizations is that the city and
department offers fair payment plans to customers based on their individual financial
circumstances. Not every family in Detroit is in the same financial situation. Although they are
all struggling, some can afford to make more payments than others and have to sacrifice less to
get their water running again. In defense of its current practices, DWSD claims that it currently
has more than 17,000 customers enrolled in payment plans based on their abilities to pay and has
raised nearly $1 million to provide financial assistance to families who owe less than $2,500.

12

"ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan." Detroit Water. ACLU of Michigan, n.d.
Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
13
"Civil Rights Groups Call on United Nations Rapporteurs to Refer Human Rights Abuses in
Detroit Water Shut-Off Campaign to United States Government." Targeted News ServiceOct 16
2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014 .

While these programs may benefit many people, they do not address the needs of the thousands
of customers who cannot afford to make monthly payments or otherwise do not meet the
programs guidelines. There are several customers that owe a lot more that $2,500. For example,
Nicole Hill reported that upon moving into her apartment, she began receiving extremely high
water bills; as much as $200 per month. She was not able to keep up with these payments, in
May the DWSD shut off her water. She now owes $5,754. This renders her ineligible for
DWSDs payment plans or financial assistance.14 The city needs to understand that everyone is
in their own unique situation, and thus needs to be provided with their own unique plan. The
situation is far too complex, to provide one plan that will cover thousands of problems and make
sure everyone is treated fairly. A general feature of all plans is that no household should be
required to pay more than 2.5% of its income to water bills.15 This is a lot more affordable to
what they are currently expected to pay. Also in the letter, the organizations suggested that no
customers water should be turned off before DWSD has determined whether the household
qualifies for an affordability program and attempts to enroll those houses. They pleaded that
there be a moratorium against shutting off water to households in the city, because this will not
solve the crisis. This solution is more than fair and should be taken into consideration to put an
end to this issue and give the people of this city back their water.
To give the people of Detroit back their water and make sure it stays running without the
risk of losing it again, the city needs to offer updated and more fair payment plans to its lower
income classes. The system is currently set up in a way that results in it being likely to have your

14

Alana Semuels, Thousands Go Without Water as Detroit Cuts Service For Non Payment,
latimes.com, June 28, 2014.
15
"Civil Rights Groups Call on United Nations Rapporteurs to Refer Human Rights Abuses in
Detroit Water Shut-Off Campaign to United States Government." Targeted News ServiceOct 16
2014. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014 .

water shutoff, and that once you get cut off it will be hard to get it back since you will continue
to fall behind in payments. If you can not make the first payment, it will be unlikely you will be
able to make the rest on time. That is why the solution is to make it as affordable as possible to
the city. It is extremely understandable that the city is up to its neck in debt, and a large
percentage (almost one third) of that is due to the water and sewage department.16 Its easy to see
why the city wants to target this issue. By keeping the water running to tens of thousands of
people who are not paying , the city is only spending more money and adding on to their debt.
Making bills easier for the public to pay will only make it harder for the city to get back up on its
feet and fight its major issue of bankruptcy. However cutting off a basic human right from their
residents is not the solution to bankruptcy. In fact, the way the city is currently handling the
problem could result in increased spending. Human right groups claim that if water stays shut off
to the people, then there will be increased medical and health problems that come from a lack of
sanitary water.17 If the residents can barely afford to pay their water, they will not be able to pay
the medical costs associated with their new health problems. This `will in turn have to be payed
by the city, and result in an increased debt. The adequate solution is to decrease the cost of water
to these people. This will provide healthy living conditions, and prevent health problems and an
increase in the debt of Detroit.
The solutions presented will due a lot more than give the people back their water. It will
show that the city does care for its people and does care about treating them right, and that its not
all about the money at the end of the day. Water is life to them and to the entire city. The city of

16

"Owe-Town; Detroit's Bankruptcy." The Economist Sep 06 2014: 32,n/a. ProQuest. Web. 30
Nov. 2014 .
17
Stelzer, Andrew, and Rachel Zurer. "Awash in Foreclosure: In Detroit if You Don't Pay Your
Water Bill, You can Lose Your House." The Progressive 05 2011: 24,24,26. ProQuest. Web. 30
Nov. 2014 .

Detroit and its people would be nothing without water. The very origins of this city were based
on water.18 We learned that we can not solve a problem by denying people basic human rights,
and that this is something that should always be available to them regardless of whether they can
afford it or not. Also it doesn't make sense that when the city sees its residents struggling to pay,
to increase the cost of water. Additionally, if the city tells its people that they will personally
provide them with notices and fair payment plans, then the city must stick to their word and do
what they say they will. For the future we have learned that we can not solve larger problems the
city is dealing with such as bankruptcy, by making more problems to the working class to deal
with. This research example specifically is important to this city, because it is a debate that spills
into human and civil rights. Humans simply can not live without water. Denying humans access
to running water is violating to them in so many ways. These findings should influence the city
of Detroit and all other cities to always put the health of their residents before anything else. If
the city takes care of its people, the people will take care of their city.

18

Martelle, Scott. Detroit : A Biography. Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago Review Press, 2012.