Avoid Water Shutoffs with Customer Assistance Programs

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Avoid Water Shutoffs with Customer Assistance Programs

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Types of Customer Assistance Programs

Utilities across the US have developed a wide variety of customer assistance strategies that can be implemented separately or together. Look for the programs that are best fit for your community.

Direct installation water use efficiency programs, such as toilet upgrades or leak repairs, to permanently lower in-home water use without the customer having to incur upfront costs. For more information on other distributed water infrastructure strategies check out the Distributed Infrastructure Toolkit: Module 1 What Is Localized Water Infrastructure.

Income-based rates provide bill discounts, lowering rates based on household income. By aligning water bills with ability to pay, these programs help reduce arrearages and shutoffs while supporting long term revenue stability for utilities.

Lifeline rates charge a subsidized rate for a fixed amount of water intended to cover essential water usage, and higher rates for consumption above that threshold.

Flexible billing terms including:

Rewarding timely bill payments by forgiving old debt and establishing a payment plan s for future payments
Bill timing adjustment (e.g., moving from quarterly to monthly billing cycles)
Levelized billing (e.g., dividing total anticipated annual water and sewer bill by 12 to create a predictable monthly bill amount)
Connection loans
Payment plans

Bill forgiveness programs
Typically used to address short term crises, such as the Covid 19 pandemic or when a household experiences an acute emergency of some kind.

Example Programs

Utility Bill Assistance Payment Plans
Seattle Public Utilities offers flexible payment plans that allow customers to pay past-due balances over time, helping income-qualified households catch up on utility bills and avoid service disruptions.

Lifeline Rate
DC Water’s Lifeline Rate provides a steeply discounted rate for essential water use, lowering monthly bills for residential customers while promoting conservation and improving affordability for low-income households.

Tiered Assistance Program
Philadelphia Water Department launched a Tiered Assistance Program in 2017 to provide low-income customers with bill relief; it sets a resident’s bill as a percentage of household income and size. So, a family of 4 with a monthly income of 50% of the federal poverty level in 2026 would have a monthly water bill of ~$22.

Flush and Flow Program
Greeley, Colorado provides free high-efficiency toilet and fixture installation to income-qualified owners or renters of single family homes, reducing water use and lowering utility bills.

Case Study

Mid-Atlantic

Philadelphia Water Department

Learn about PWD’s green infrastructure incentives in action.

Community Engagement

Report

National

Advancing Water Affordability Nationwide: A Framework for Action

A high-level roadmap for addressing water sector affordability issues prepared by EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (2025).

Community Engagement

No Low Income Federal Assistance for Water

The federal government has provided financial support for low-income households to manage energy costs, and energy efficiency measures, through its LIHEAP program for many years. But there is no parallel federal assistance program for water and sewer bills. A Low Income Household Water Assistance Program was briefly available during the Covid 19 pandemic but expired in 2023. A 2025 EFAB Report, as well as other analyses, recommended adoption of a water “LIHEAP” at the federal level.

Avoid Water Shutoffs with Customer Assistance Programs

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Addressing Customer Assistance Program Barriers

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