Water bills suspended for Flint residents

The mayor of Flint, Michigan, announced on Wednesday that residents won't have to pay their water bill for about a month, as the city works to credit residents for the bills they've already paid for water that was later proved to be toxic. 

The city will apply $30 million in credit to residents' bills, and customers are expected to be compensated with an average of $600. Officials have around 85,000 users on record who are expected to receive a portion of the money. The credit is essentially a reimbursement for resident water bills since Flint switched its water supply to the Flint river in 2014.

Flint's water supply became contaminated with lead after the city switched its water supply to the Flint River in 2014. Water from the Flint River eroded the inner-lining of the city's water pipes, causing lead to leak into the supply.

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"Flint residents need and deserve this relief," Mayor Karen Weaver said. "I've said from day one, Flint residents should not have to pay for water they can not and are not using."

The city's water crisis has also become a political scandal. 

Former Mayor Dayne Walling, who was in office when Flint switched its water supply, largely brushed aside the growing complaints of residents who said their new water supply often came out brown or smelling strange. 

State employees in Flint received bottled water in January, 2015, due to concerns about the river, even though residents were still being forced to drink from their taps. And aides to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder likely knew about problems with the river just a few weeks after the switch.

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Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have called for Snyder's resignation.

Flint switched its water supply back to Detroit's water system in October, but lead from the pipes continued to poison the water. Many residents have received new water filters to deal with the problem, but some households have faucets that aren't compatible with the new filters.

Anyone in Flint using unfiltered water is not advised to drink it, and experts have expressed concern about bathing in it. The state says people can use unfiltered water to wash their clothes.

Residents are likely to receive water bills again in April, though the bills are expected to reflect only the cost of water that was not contaminated. 

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