Suburban Residents’ Stories – Living with Water Insecurities

A team led by Dr. Dana Kornberg of UC-Santa Barbara, in collaboration with the Oakland County team of PWBC, initiated a research project to find stories of unaffordability in suburban Detroit. Its goal was to understand the causes and effects of past-due water bills on households in the suburbs to galvanize wider political will on water affordability measures in Michigan.

Interviews have been crafted into stories and are compiled in a booklet titled: “Suburban Detroit Water Unaffordability: Stories.”

The team found that residents in Oakland and Macomb counties struggle to afford water bills, even in high income areas like Birmingham, Novi and West Bloomfield. Everyone spoke of the water bills becoming more burdensome due to new storm water charges, smart meters and the switch from quarterly to monthly bills.

We also found that most of the residents interviewed have serious health issues, provided care for an elderly mother, a disabled child, or wife, or that they have recently lost spouses to divorce or death. Some lost employment during the pandemic, another lost their home and business.

Residents frequently spoke of how water insecurity impacted mental health.

• A Hazel Park resident said “when my kids were minors, I was… more concerned about whether [a water shut off] would become a custody issue.” She feared that her children would be taken away if she got behind on her water bill.
• A retired senior on fixed income who cares for her seriously ill daughter said: she worked her whole life and “always paid her bills” but “I just can’t do it anymore.” She described herself as being “depressed” and in a “constant state of stress.”
• When Nicki (a pseudonym) endured a “horrible” and “inhumane” shutoff she had to buy gallons of bottled water to survive and had to ask her neighbors to “use their hose to get buckets of water.” She said the experience was… something that will “tear you up mentally.” She told us that it was “embarrassing” and “heartbreaking” to not have a basic necessity like water. She recalled that she would “cry at night and pray to the Lord that something happens. Or somebody comes to help.”
• A resident of Bloomfield Hills, one of the highest income cities in Michigan, said she felt “really, really stressed” and felt like “everything is about bills.” As a single mother since her husband passed she has struggled. She can’t sleep at night. She stays awake “just [trying] to figure it out.” She said I don’t “make enough money to take care of everybody and everything like I used to.” This carries with it intense feelings of shame.
• A Roseville resident who experienced shut offs described the horror of it when they “come and turn your stuff off before you’ve even awakened in the morning and you just won’t have water or toilets.” Then to make matters worse, she still received water bills for sewage and wastewater when her water was disconnected.

Miraculously, all of these people found ways to navigate the challenges. Most of those interviewed received no information about financial assistance or payment plans from the water utilities, but some were able to work out informal payments at the city, and all used at least a portion of their COVID-relief checks to pay off their water bills.

People have had to make constant trade-offs on which bills to pay, asked relatives, churches, and the Salvation Army for help, ran up their credit cards, found measures to conserve their water, and many prayed. Lots of prayers.

• A retiree who lives on a fixed social security income is now in the 5% of residents in Birmingham who live in poverty. He said he can no longer afford to pay for car insurance or registration. He told us that it is difficult as a senior living in a suburban area “not having transportation other than my bicycle and buses.”
• A former banker in Walled Lake “was put into forced retirement” during the pandemic. He is still receiving retirement payments but “that’s going to end” and he lives in impending fear of that date. The spike in water rates puts “a financial strain on his fixed income.” He cares for his wife with rheumatoid arthritis and they must pay for medications as well.
• A resident of Oak Park has not been able to pay her homeowners insurance. She is constantly plagued with plumbing issues. When we interviewed her the shower was not working and only one toilet.
• A Novi resident described how the water shutoff process brings fear and shame. She has received the postcard with red letters saying SHUT OFF Notice. She said if someone is “really toughly battling shame, it will be hard for [them] to reach out to ask for help.” She has contacted elected officials and “part of the reason why you kind of reach out to politicians is perhaps they can get some more insight into the changes or the charges or they can lean on these utilities to, you know, perhaps come up with more affordable plans… ” She stated that the water affordability crisis is “more of an issue than people realize in the suburbs including Novi and only “some are brave enough to speak out and so just something has to be done.”

Most that were interviewed had ideas for improving the water system.

• At the end of her interview, a Ferndale resident said that she strongly believes it should be illegal for people who have health conditions to have their water shut off “even if they can’t afford” to pay their bill. Instead of instituting shut offs for people with disabilities and underlying health conditions, the water department should “put out some type of assistance or something, because it’s only going to make their conditions worse if they also don’t have water.”
• Another Ferndale resident stated: “It is clear that community members are “really really struggling, especially older adults” who have to cope with limited income. Providing payment plans that offer “lower bills based on your income so… maybe you only pay a percentage of your water bill” would greatly “help people stay afloat.”