Affordability. It's a word that gets tossed around a lot as water bills continue to rise. Over the past 10 years themedian water bill has risen 75%and is going to continue to climb asournationalwetinfrastructure requiresup to$1 trillion in rehabilitation investment over the next 25 years. But withnearly15% of the USpopulationlivingbelow the poverty lineand spending3% of their after-tax income on water,manyfamilies are more vulnerable to bill increases and water shutoffs.Water utilitieshave theresponsibilityofmaintaining public health by providing high quality, readily accessible waterand manyprovidershave shown their commitment to theirlow-incomecustomers through the implementation ofCustomerAssistancePrograms (CAPs). In addition to CAPs, online customer engagement can reach low-income customers and help to ease their bill burden before they become delinquent.
