在许多情况下，随着水价的增加 比公众的能力还快 支付更多的水费 客户可能会遇到困难 支付他们的水费，即使是基本的水费 服务。幸运的是，有很多方法 公用事业经理可以解决可负担性问题 问题，包括 使客户和自来水公司都受益。 本文讨论了该项目的经验 俄勒冈州波特兰市 15年来一直致力于帮助 低收入客户按时支付账单 避免关机。这座城市建在这片土地上 先前文献中的发现，以确定 很多选择——例如，低收入账单 折扣，危机援助计划 夹具维修计划、预算账单和 付款延期-适用于 让供水服务更实惠。公用事业 经理们有各种各样的解决方案， 取决于他们特定社区的 需求和客户群。 本文的目的是培养 对可承受性问题的认识提高， 包括好处和好处 为低收入者提供账单援助的障碍 而更多的公共设施可能 实施新项目或加强现有项目 一个。可能需要做出相当大的长期努力 被要求使这些计划有效； 然而，正如这篇论文所显示的那样，它可以取得成功 如果这些努力是集中的，并且 正确的计划和方向。 包括6个参考文献、表格、图表。

As water rates increase, in many cases faster than the public's ability to pay, greater numbers of water utility customers may experience difficulty paying their water bills, even for basic levels of service. Fortunately, there are many ways that utility managers can address affordability issues, including assistance programs that benefit both customers and the water utility. This paper discusses the experiences of the City of Portland, Oregon, which for more than 15 years has been involved in helping its low-income customers pay their bills on time and avoid shutoffs. The city built on the findings in prior literature to identify the many options - for example, low-income bill discounts, a crisis assistance program, a fixture repair program, budget billing, and payment extensions - that are available to make water service more affordable. Utility managers have a variety of solutions available, depending on their particular community's needs and customer base. The objective of this paper is to foster an increased awareness of the issue of affordability, including both the benefits and obstacles of providing bill assistance for lowincome people, and that more utilities may implement new programs or enhance existing ones. Considerable long-term efforts may be required to make such programs effective; however, as this paper shows, success can be achieved if these efforts are focused and have the proper planning and direction. Includes 6 references, tables, figures.