This financial report, prepared for the city by an outside firm, shows how the economic crisis of 2008 rapidly accelerated Detroit’s financial decline. The crisis turned what would have been a slight downward trend in city water revenues into a death spiral of debt that ultimately drove the city into bankruptcy. During the nine fiscal […]
We call on the City of Detroit and the newly-formed Great Lakes Water Authority to cancel the existing debts of Detroit Water and Sewerage customers and start afresh with simple, affordable rates: all […]
DETROIT –– The Detroit Water Brigade will partner with Brooks Barbershop to provide a day of fun, education, and back-to-school haircuts for Detroit residents this Saturday, September 6th, from 8am to 2pm. The Brigade will provide coupons for free haircuts to the first 50 customers in line at 8am, on a first-come-first-served basis […]
This morning, a group of community advocates attempting to help people save their homes from foreclosure were forcibly evicted from Cobo Hall, where the “Show Cause Hearings” were being held. This year alone, 62,000 Detroit properties are in tax foreclosure in the city of Detroit […]
This morning, a group of community advocates attempting to help people save their homes from foreclosure were forcibly evicted from Cobo Hall, where the “Show Cause Hearings” were being held. This year alone, 62,000 Detroit properties are in tax foreclosure in the city of Detroit […]
The owners of Erie Street Guitars in Willoughby Ohio have joined the fight to bring water to Detroiters facing water shutoff by offering up a Gibson Les Paul Studio Guitar to raise funds for the Detroit Water Brigade. Maggie Rice of Erie Street Guitars visited […]
This post originally appeared on WSWS.org By James Brewer 7 April 2015 In an unpublicized move, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) is laying off 35 building maintenance workers and replacing them with commercially contracted janitorial services. A notification dated March 23 was sent to DWSD employees informing workers of the change, effective Monday, […]
You can turn the landscaping of drainage solutions into value-added features for your garden and protect natural waterways. Ditches can be created as hollows that look like river beds or small grass. Stormwater can flow into the rain garden to provide a habitat for butterflies and birds. Driveways, terraces, and sidewalks can be constructed with permeable paving, not forming puddles due to water seepage. All these solutions are part of the development strategy for stormwater drainage alternatives. Read below the concept of this strategy and find out what are the option for Detroit's Residents who need water to work. […]
The Utah-based traveling water entertainment company Slide the City is planning to bring a 1,000 foot-long two-lane water slide to Detroit this summer, even as the city continues to shut off the water to thousands of city residents in poverty who cannot afford their monthly bills. We know how much fun water slides can be, […]
Average water consumption for various activities of a family (4 members) with the tax of $5.30 per 1,000 gallons […]
The affordability of water is a critical factor in obtaining water. When water charges make people unable to afford this resource, it brings health and safety issues and countless administrative and political issues. Water affordability is usually measured by the annual cost of water charges as a percentage of the average household income. Families who pay water bills that exceed the affordable threshold are considered unaffordable costs and "heavy burdens." […]
Last April, The City of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department made a press announcement of a controversial water shutoff plan disconnecting 140,000 residents which is 40% of the Detroit population from water. Without sufficient warning to customers, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, then managed by Jones Day bankruptcy attorney, Kevyn Orr, began shutting off […]
South Africa on Wednesday lifted the state of natural disaster declared in mid-February due to a particularly severe drought that affected the Cape Town region, located in the southwest of this country, informs local newspaper of Detroit. […]