This Man Would Pay for Water If the City Would Only Send a Bill

Detroit Has Been Shutting Off Residential Taps for Non-Payment, But A Line That Feeds a Car Wash Business Runs Freely

This Man Would Pay for Water If the City Would Only Send a Bill from Zócalo Public Square on Vimeo.

California has water problems, but they pale in comparison to those of Detroit, where tens of thousands of residents have had their water shut off—not because of drought, but because of non-payment. More than 20,000 additional people could see their taps run dry beginning May 26. This video by Detroit-based photographer Karah Shaffer is part of Zócalo’s weeklong series on that city’s water emergency.

May 30, 2015

Water Doesn’t Have to Be Free, Just Affordable

Antonio Cosme Wants Bills to Stop Taking a Huge Bite Out of Detroiters' Incomes

May 29, 2015

Water Doesn't Have to Be Free, Just Affordable from Zócalo Public Square on Vimeo.

California has water problems, but they pale in comparison to those of Detroit, where tens of …

How Detroit’s Water Problem Became a Humanitarian Crisis

Public Health Is at Stake When You Cut Off People Who Can’t Pay

by Alice Jennings | May 29, 2015

The United States needs a national water affordability law. Such legislation would require each state to have its own statute protecting access to water for low-income people and those below …

Maybe Detroit Will Start Charging for Air

Water Is Everywhere, But the City Is Turning Off Tap After Tap

May 28, 2015

Maybe Detroit Will Start Charging for Air from Zócalo Public Square on Vimeo.

California has water problems, but they pale in comparison to those of Detroit, where tens of thousands …

Behind Detroit’s Grim Blue Graffiti

Portraits of a City and Its Residents, Who Can No Longer Take Basic Services for Granted

May 28, 2015

All over Detroit, Karah Shaffer has taken photos of houses with the phrases “w/o,” “w/cut,” and “w/off,” indicating in telltale blue spray paint that water had been cut off. These …

Detroit Cut Off My 86-Year-Old Grandmother’s Water

Soaring Prices for the Life-Sustaining Resource Has Driven My Hometown Crazy

by Kevin Hatchett | May 28, 2015

I’m not that old—38—but I’m old enough to remember when no one talked about water bills in Detroit. I used to get bills every three months for $18 or $20. …

Detroit water