Water and sewer customer assistance programs in the U.S.

Water and sewer rates have risen faster than incomes in much of the U.S., in part because of the need to replace and upgrade deteriorating infrastructure. This raises concerns about the affordability of combined water and sewer bills for low-income households. Many utilities use “customer assistance programs”, or CAPs, to help these customers. But many service providers do not use CAPs, either for lack of funding, administrative capacity, or expertise. The federal Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) was created as part of the COVID-19 response to temporarily fund assistance programs, but without a sustained federal or state program to assist customers, utilities need to create their own CAPs or work with local organizations to assist low-income customers.

This site, created by researchers at Washington State University, documents existing water and sewer CAPs as a service both to utilities, researchers and customers. The dataset was compiled by a collecting information from websites of the 225 U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 people as well as updating information from additional cities that replied to the US EPA’s 2016 survey on CAPs. In total, 379 programs from 246 utilities across all 50 states are listed. This database is not comprehensive, but utility staff and other researchers are welcome to add information and edit data by filling out the form found here.

To find programs for a specific utility, hover over the area on the map below or search for the utility to the right. The database then provides more detailed information on the type of assistance program, eligibility requirements, and a link to the program’s website.

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