In the first months of COVID-19, the City of Philadelphia reconnected over 15,000 water customer accounts that had been shut off due to nonpayment. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention wants to understand the impact of this water restitution in affected Philadelphians’ lives, to inform our department’s work and other City policies and practices related to disease prevention and health justice. The perspectives of those with direct experience are critical to informing future policy and program recommendations.

PDPH interviewed PEA’s Alon Abramson about the Water & Sewer Line Protection Pprogram to understand and document Philadelphians’ experiences with water reconnections and shutoffs, toward making a public health argument that it is not only during a pandemic that all Philadelphians need running water.