During Governor DeWine’s daily press conference Tuesday, he announced a state order which mandates that water utilities throughout the State of Ohio must not disconnect service for failure to pay during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This will help us assure that as many people as possible will have safe water during this state of emergency,” said DeWine.

The governor also stated that anyone who has had their water turned off for failure to pay, dating back to January 1 of this year is also eligible. Those individuals are directed to contact their respective local water utility to be reconnected.

The mandate also states that the re-connection must be done without assessing any fees, however, the governor did not clarify if a fee could be assessed at a later date.

However, the order signed this afternoon by Laurie Stevenson, Director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, does not waive customers’ bills.

DeWine mentioned individuals will still need to pay their bill at a later date once the pandemic is over.

Guidance from the Ohio EPA on how to properly flush a water system once reconnected and information on safe water practices will be online at the State’s COVID-19 website this afternoon by clicking here.