| Inserted where the meter connects to the service line, the device cuts the flow of water into the home to a trickle. Phoenix, which began using the devices in early March, only to remove them a few weeks later once the pandemic happened, believes it is the first U.S. utility to use flow restrictors instead of shutting off water to households that are behind on their bills.
Kathryn Sorensen, the director of Phoenix Water, views flow restrictors as a middle ground that preserves the utility’s ability to make sure that bills are paid, while not completely cutting off service to those who don’t. It’s a balancing act required of utilities across the country, which, in addition to the rising cost of water, have customers who are now dealing with the coronavirus, an economic recession, and the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. | 