Category: WSSC Page 1 of 4

There have been several assistance programs for residents Residents Struggling with Water Bills, House Payments, rental evictions.

You may qualify for a new state program if you are behind on your water or sewer bill. The MD Department of Human Services, Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) is a water assistance program that provides funds to assist low-income households to pay water/sewer bills that are 30 days or more past due.

LIHWAP Information: An eligible household can receive between $100 – $2,000 in assistance. Renters, homeowners and residents of public housing can apply in-person or online at:

Prince George’s County Department of Social Services Office, 301.909.6300, 425 Brightseat Road, Landover, MD 20785

Online via the Maryland Department of Human Services/OHEP website, here, 800.332.6347. Applications are available in both English/Spanish.

Click here for more details.

Additionally, WSSC will run the month of June, provides bill credits and 100 percent of late payment charges and turn-on fees waived for customers who qualify. During June, WSSC Water will temporarily suspend residential water service turnoffs to encourage program participation. As of late March, nearly 87,000 accounts are past due, totaling nearly $57 million – the vast majority of which are residential customers. To learn more about WSSC Water’s Get Current program and to sign up to be notified when it launches on June 1,visit wsscwater.com/getcurrent. Information on other customer assistance programs can be found at wsscwater.com/assistance.

Prince George’s County and Montgomery County have each received an additional $1 million in water bill assistance.

The Maryland Homeowner Assistance Fund provides homeowners with financial assistance for mortgage payments or other housing costs, including WSSC Water bills due to COVID-19 impacts. The program is administered by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.

Program Information is available here.

To find out if you’re eligible for assistance from the MD HAF program:www.mdhaf.com/prescreening.
Monitor the progress of your application by going to https://marylandhaf.com/login and logging in. Users must first register for an account.

If you are facing eviction due to delinquent rent and have a court summons, court judgment, Warrant of Restitution, or Warrant for Possession, you may be eligible for the Prince George’s County Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP).

For assistance, call the ERAP Hotline at (301) 883-6504, then press 9, and a customer service representative will help you.

Or e-mail your contact information and one of the documents listed above to: ERAP@co.pg.md.us (Include the eviction date in the Subject Line if an eviction is scheduled.)

If you’re eligible for assistance, ERAP can pay up to 18 months of late rent or provide funding to help you relocate.

Note: The Emergency Rental Assistance Program has not re-opened. Funding is available for eligible renters with a pending eviction.

Requirements to be eligible to apply for emergency assistance:

The renter must be scheduled by the Sheriff for eviction, or there must be an active Warrant for Possession that would allow the Sheriff to evict, or the renter received a court summons or court judgment.
Rental property located in Prince George’s County.
Prince George’s County residents faced financial hardship arising because of or during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

More information is available here.

[Source: CM Dernoga’s Office]

There has been a water main break on Iroquois Street as of 5:30 am today. WSSC sent the following advisories.

A crew has identified necessary water main repair work in your area @ 4910 Iroquois St, College Park that could cause low water pressure or no water service. WSSC Water prioritizes all repairs. Water main breaks are fixed before leaks.

If you have questions, please call our Emergency Call Center 24/7 at 301-206-4002 or email us at emergencycallcenter@wsscwater.com.

The water main break is flooding Rhode Island Avenue near the source of the break. Please drive carefully as you approach the area.

You can watch the video of Rhode Island Ave here , which I took early this morning.

Update: 10:10 am: WSSC just shut off the water main to stop the flooding on Rhode Island ave

Update 8:00 pm: WSSC is now reporting that the Water main repair work is finished and the service has been restored in the area @ 4910 Iroquois St, College Park. Discolored water is common after a water main break.

With the freezing weather, here are some tips from WSSC on preparing your home’s pipes for cold winter weather.

WSSC Water is urging customers who are behind on their water and sewer bills to establish convenient payment plans before water service turnoffs resume. Turnoffs for delinquent commercial and government accounts resumed on August 1, and residential accounts will resume on September 13.

Our City Engineer advised us recently that this week M T Laney Construction, Washington Gas resurfacing contractor, will begin milling and resurfacing all the streets affected by the recent gas main replacement project in the Sunnyside neighborhood. The contractor will be providing custom hi vis uniforms for the workers and a 48-hour notice on those streets that are going to be worked on. Know the importance of hi vis joggers and vests for workers here. Vehicles left on the street when the construction begins will be relocated onto a nearby street by the WSSC contractor. He also sent the attached map showing the affected streets.

Thankfully, now the gas work is actually complete. The paving contractor, M T Laney, is now performing the permanent trench repairs, unlike the repairs made while the gas work was being performed, where the road surface was repeatedly cut open many times and patched temporarily.

Soon after M T Laney permanently repairs and seals all the trenches where the new gas lines were installed those streets will be resurfaced from curb to curb.

We are look at mid May for Sunnyside to be finished.

We appreciate the inconvenience this resurfacing work is causing to the residents. Thankfully, the road surfacing is the last part of the work a utility company (Washington Gas or WSSC) does. So, it looks like the WSSC will not be coming again after the resurfacing work is completed.