The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will resume its standard collection practices beginning June 1, the agency announced in a release Monday afternoon.

The move aligns with Orange County ending its state of emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic, with the declaration expiring on Sunday. OWASA had maintained a moratorium on service disconnections and collection of late fees since March 12, 2020, saying they wanted to continue access to water to help public health.

Under Standard Collection Practices, a customer who has a bill that is more than 60 days past due is subject to service disconnection. The Chapel Hill and Carrboro service agency said it is directly reaching out to all customers with bills more than 60 days past due.

With a June 1 restarting date for service collections, OWASA said its disconnections will restart again in August.

Funding assistance is still available for customers who have bills that are past due. According to a release, OWASA is offering fee-free payment plans for customers, which can last anywhere from six to 18 months.

“We understand the impact the pandemic has had on all customers, especially those who have now accumulated bills throughout the last two years,” OWASA’s release read. “And we are committed to working with them wherever possible to keep their water and sewer service connected.”

More information can be found here.

 

Featured image via Orange Water and Sewer Authority

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

 

Related Stories
‹
Earth Shattered Global Heat Record in ’23 and It’s Flirting With Warming Limit, European Agency Says
Written by SETH BORENSTEIN Earth last year shattered global annual heat records, flirted with the world’s agreed-upon warming threshold and showed more signs of a feverish planet, the European climate agency said Tuesday. In one of the first of several teams of science agencies to calculate how off-the-charts warm 2023 was, the European climate agency […]
Precious Water: As More of the World Thirsts, Luxury Water Becoming Fashionable Among the Elite
Written by MARTHA IRVINE and DAR YASIN Monsoon rains have finally passed and floods blocking the lone dirt road have retreated enough for a small truck to climb these Himalayan foothills to a gurgling spring. It spews water so fresh that people here call it nectar. Workers inside a small plant ferry sleek glass bottles […]
Survivors of Maui Fires Face Power Cuts and Poor Cell Service as Teams Work To Find and ID the Dead
Written by CLAIRE RUSH, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Survivors of deadly wildfires on Maui contended with intermittent power and unreliable cell service as they sought help rebuilding their lives. Teams of people, meanwhile, labored to find the dead and identify them. With the death toll already at 106, a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners […]
Earth Hit an Unofficial Record High Temperature This Week – And Stayed There
Earth’s average temperature on Wednesday remained at an unofficial record high set the day before, the latest grim milestone in a week that has seen a series of climate-change-driven extremes.
Collapse of Major Dam in Southern Ukraine Triggers Emergency as Moscow and Kyiv Blame Each Other
Written by SUSIE BLANN The wall of a major dam in southern Ukraine collapsed Tuesday, triggering floods, endangering Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and threatening drinking water supplies as both sides in the war scrambled to evacuate residents and blamed each other for the destruction. Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station […]
World Population Hits 8 Billion, Creating Many Challenges
Written by DAN IKPOYI and CHINEDU ASADU The world’s population is projected to hit an estimated 8 billion people on Tuesday, according to a United Nations projection, with much of the growth coming from developing nations in Africa. Among them is Nigeria, where resources are already stretched to the limit. More than 15 million people in Lagos […]
Lead Detection in UNC Library Leads to Removed Fountains
After detecting lead in multiple tests, UNC announced it is removing several drinking fountains from Wilson Library.  The University’s Office of Environment, Health and Safety shared the news in an email to the campus community on Thursday around 3:30 p.m. “Other drinking fountains in the building were tested, showed no detectable levels of lead and […]
Conversations with the Mayors: Water, Grants, and Hillsborough 101
Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey on Tuesday, August 16. She discussed various town water issues, new grants for water resilience, and the Hillsborough 101 class that is now accepting registrations. This is a transcript of their conversation, edited for clarity. Listen to the full interview here. Andrew Stuckey: We […]
Pittsboro in Final Stage of Activating New Filter at Water Treatment Plant
As water quality continues to be a top issue in Pittsboro, the town’s Public Information Officer Colby Sawyer spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Andrew Stuckey on Tuesday, August 2. He discussed the town’s new Granulated Active Carbon filtration system at its treatment plant, which is set to go online Friday. The following is an edited […]
OWASA to Resume Standard Collection Practices on June 1
The Orange Water and Sewer Authority will resume its standard collection practices beginning June 1, the agency announced in a release Monday afternoon. The move aligns with Orange County ending its state of emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic, with the declaration expiring on Sunday. OWASA had maintained a moratorium on service disconnections and collection […]
›