The Right Channel for Every Question
waterdepartmentguide.org/ is an editorial directory. We cannot pay your bill, access your account, restore service, or do anything department-side. This page sets out exactly what we can help with, what we cannot, and where to send each kind of question — including state open-records requests, which go to the department under state law.
Life-threatening emergency: dial 911.
Water main break, no water service, sewer back-up, flooding from a city main: call your water department’s 24/7 emergency line (printed on your bill).
Suspected ingestion of a contaminant: call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (24/7, free, confidential).
Suspected water quality problem: call your water department AND your state drinking water primacy agency.
What We Can Help With
- Corrections to any department URL, phone number, billing portal URL, director name, governing body, public-meeting schedule, regulator attribution, or walkthrough step on the site
- Reports of broken department URLs — top-priority correction queue
- Reports of customer service phone numbers that no longer answer or route correctly
- Notification of billing-portal vendor migrations (Tyler MUNIS, Cayenta, Paymentus, InvoiceCloud, Harris ERP, CIS Infinity, etc.)
- State privacy-rights requests under CCPA / VCDPA / CPA / CTDPA / UCPA / TDPSA / OCDPA / DPDPA / TIPA / NHPA / NJDPA / MTCDPA / ICDPA and other state laws
- Cookie preferences and consent questions
- Accessibility issues and reports of barriers using assistive technology
- DMCA copyright takedown notices under 17 U.S.C. § 512
- Press inquiries about the site, methodology, or editorial decisions
- Editorial questions about specific department entries, methodology, or sourcing
- Notification of department director changes, council/commission election results, or governance restructuring
What We Cannot Help With
- Paying your water bill — use your department’s payment portal, mail a check, or call the department’s payment line
- Accessing your account — your account number is on your bill, and account access is via the department’s portal or phone line
- Restoring shut-off service — call your department customer service line
- Submitting a state open-records request — that goes directly to the department under state law (we describe the route)
- Attending a public meeting on your behalf — meetings are open to the public under state Open Meetings Acts
- FCRA-related disputes about a consumer report — those go to the Consumer Reporting Agency that issued the report
- Tenant screening — we are not a Consumer Reporting Agency
- Utility-deposit decisions — we are not a Consumer Reporting Agency
- Legal advice on water-bill disputes — consult an attorney licensed in your state
- Adding paid placement, “preferred listings,” or sponsored department entries — we do not accept paid placement
Channels and Response Targets
Broken department URL / out-of-date emergency phone
You clicked a link on our site to a department’s page and it did not work, or the emergency phone number shown on our site does not answer or routes incorrectly. Top-priority correction queue.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Broken department URL” or “Phone routing error”
Include: page URL + department name + the issue
General correction
Wrong director name, governing body change, public-meeting schedule change, billing-vendor migration, CCR publication URL change, or any other content error.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Correction”
State privacy-rights request
Access, correction, deletion, portability, opt-out, or appeal under CCPA / VCDPA / CPA / CTDPA / UCPA / TDPSA / OCDPA / DPDPA / TIPA / NHPA / NJDPA / MTCDPA / ICDPA and other state laws.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Privacy rights request”
Include: the right you are exercising + your state of residence
Accessibility
A page or feature is hard or impossible to use with your assistive technology, or fails WCAG 2.1 AA in a specific way.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Accessibility issue”
Include: page URL + AT used + what went wrong
DMCA copyright notice
Copyright takedown or counter-notice under 17 U.S.C. § 512.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “DMCA notice”
Include: the six elements set out on our DMCA Policy page
Cookie settings
Change your cookie preferences or ask about specific tracking technologies on the site.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Cookie inquiry”
Or: use the “Cookie settings” link in the footer
Press and media
Background, comment, or interview request.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Press inquiry”
Include: outlet + deadline + topic
Editorial / methodology
Question about how a specific department entry was researched, sourced, or verified.
Email: info@waterdepartmentguide.org
Subject: “Editorial question”
Where to Send Things We Cannot Handle
| If you have… | Send it to |
|---|---|
| A life-threatening emergency | 911 |
| A water emergency (no water, main break, sewer back-up, flooding) | Your department’s 24/7 emergency line (printed on your bill) |
| A suspected ingestion of a contaminant | Poison Control 1-800-222-1222 |
| A suspected water quality problem | Your department AND your state drinking water primacy agency |
| A bill payment question | Your department’s customer service line or online portal |
| A state open-records request | The department directly — the state open-records statute (California CPRA, Texas TPIA, Florida Sunshine Law, New York FOIL, etc.) governs |
| An FCRA dispute about a consumer report | The Consumer Reporting Agency that issued the report; CFPB at consumerfinance.gov |
| A rate complaint about an investor-owned utility | Your state Public Utility Commission (PUC) / Public Service Commission (PSC) |
| A complaint about a municipal department’s rates or billing | The municipal governing body (city council, county board, or PUD commission); your state Attorney General for UDAP issues |
| A complaint about SDWA compliance | Your state drinking water primacy agency; EPA at epa.gov/sdwa |
| A clean-water-act (wastewater) compliance concern | Your state environmental agency; EPA at epa.gov/cwa |
| A federal consumer-protection complaint | FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov; CFPB at consumerfinance.gov |
| A state consumer-protection complaint | Your state Attorney General’s consumer protection office |
| Financial assistance for an unaffordable water bill | LIHWAP through your state grantee; your department’s hardship program |
| An attorney recommendation | Your state bar’s Lawyer Referral Service |
| Free legal aid | Legal Services Corporation grantees; your state’s legal-aid network |
What We Need Before Email
- Page URL the issue is about (full URL from your address bar)
- Brief description of what is wrong or what you are requesting
- For broken department URLs: the department name + the URL that did not work + what happened
- For state privacy-rights requests: which state and which right
- For accessibility issues: assistive technology + browser
- For DMCA notices: the six elements set out on our DMCA Policy page
Do not send your account number, full Social Security number, driver’s license number, bank account number, or credit-card number through email. We do not need it, we cannot use it, and we cannot pay your bill or access your account.
Postal Mail
If you must send postal mail, use the email address first to confirm the appropriate handling. We do not publish a postal address for routine correspondence to limit physical-mail abuse and to encourage faster electronic handling.
Have an Issue or Correction?
Email info@waterdepartmentguide.org with a clear subject line. For emergencies, call 911, your department’s 24/7 line, or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
📧 info@waterdepartmentguide.org