
Founder Stories: Detroit Water Project’s Tiffani Ashley Bell - pavornyoh
http://themacro.com/articles/2015/11/qa-with-tiffani-ashley-bell/
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wpietri
Great profile. I'm a contributor; if you'd like to be one as well, you can do
it here:

[https://www.detroitwaterproject.org/#donor-
form](https://www.detroitwaterproject.org/#donor-form)

It's great to see people with an entrepreneurial spirit tackling problems like
this.

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jacquesm
"Meanwhile, I had been clicking all around on the water company’s website, and
I found a 400-page PDF document that was a list of account numbers of people
who owed money that the water company supposedly couldn’t deliver bills to by
mail. We took one of the account numbers and plugged it into the utility
company’s website, and it showed a lot of information: How much was owed,
consumption history, payment history. And there was a payment button. "

Surprised that information was out in the open, I don't think it should have
been. Props to her to make something good out of it. It's also quite strange
that the water company would be able to deliver water but the postal service
can't deliver mail. Both appear to be tied to the same physical location.

~~~
ams6110
It's Detroit. The entire city is dysfunctional. At one time the policy of the
Fire Chief was to just let buildings burn if they were uninhabited, to save
fire department resources.

~~~
elmin
That seems like a decent policy if the resources are truly so limited.

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brianzelip
Great to learn about this.

see also their Baltimore project (mentioned in passing):
[https://www.detroitwaterproject.org/baltimore](https://www.detroitwaterproject.org/baltimore)

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petersouth
Every city water utility has this same problem. Having close knowledge of the
problems, I don't think this is a good solution. Many of the customers get
shut off and then immediately pay their bill along with the penalties (approx
3/4). This is often cyclical with the same people getting shutoff every couple
months. Appears to me to be administrative. Should have financial people show
them how to budget or organize their bills to prevent getting the fees so it
doesn't happen again in the long run. Another thing the article points to is a
$250 fee for turning on the water. Often when the water is turned on without
authorization the utility equipment is damaged. The fix can involve calling
out trade workers to saw out parts of streets and sidewalks and replacing
expensive brass lead-free parts. $250 would be in the neighborhood of the
cost.

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brudgers
When regularly there's a significant probability that a person's periodic
income will be less than their periodic expenses, budgeting becomes an
exercise of choosing which bills _not_ to pay.

The important reason the damaged equipment due to illegal restoration of
service is problematic is same reason that public water service is important.
Public water service exists to protect public health. It keeps people from
dying of diseases like cholera.

Punitive policies in regard to water service put people in life threatening
situations. It's poor public policy.

