Source Verification Policy
This page explains how we manually review official utility sources, monitor links, and handle changed information.
Source Verification and Link Testing Policy
waterutilities.org/ uses a manual, official-source-first approach when publishing U.S. utility guides. Because utility contact details, payment vendors, service rules, and emergency notices can change quickly, we treat official verification as a core part of our publishing process.
Sources We Prefer
- Official water utility websites.
- Official city, county, public works, or municipal billing pages.
- Official water district, water authority, or regional utility pages.
- Official payment pages linked from a utility website.
- Official customer service, service application, and leak adjustment pages.
- Official emergency alerts, outage maps, boil water notices, and local health advisories.
- Official assistance, hardship, low-income, senior, or payment-plan program pages.
Sources We Treat Carefully
Search snippets, directory listings, copied phone-number websites, forum answers, social media comments, old PDFs, and third-party summaries may be useful for discovery but are not treated as final authority when official utility sources are available. If a third-party source conflicts with an official utility source, the official source should be prioritized.
What We Manually Check
| Item | Why It Matters | Our Review Action |
|---|---|---|
| Official link | Users need the real utility or city page, not a misleading copy | Open and review official pages when creating/updating guides |
| Phone number | Billing, emergency, and after-hours numbers can differ | Match numbers to official customer service or emergency pages where possible |
| Address | Mailing, walk-in, service center, and drop box addresses may be different | Label addresses carefully and avoid guessing office functions |
| Payment portal | Utilities may use authorized third-party processors with fees | Warn users to verify through official utility pages before paying |
| Emergency notice | Boil water and outage details may change rapidly | Direct users to official alerts and emergency lines for real-time information |
Link Monitoring
We manually check important links during publication and updates. We also review reader reports about broken links, moved payment portals, changed utility URLs, disconnected numbers, and new office pages. When a link is broken or unsafe, we may replace it, remove it, add a warning, or rewrite the instruction so readers verify directly with the utility.
Latest Information Language
We work to keep important utility details current, but we avoid guaranteeing that every phone number, address, office hour, fee, rate, or portal link is current at every moment. Utility websites can update after our last review, especially during outages, emergencies, rate changes, or billing system migrations.
Reader Reports
If you find a broken or outdated utility link on waterutilities.org/, please send the page URL and the official updated source through our contact page. Reader reports help us maintain safer and more useful guides.
Official Source Is Final
For payments, shutoff notices, reconnect fees, emergency reporting, assistance eligibility, water quality notices, and account-specific actions, the official utility or local government office is the final source.