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Water Connection Assistance Program

Water Connection Assistance Program

This page provides information on DuPage County’s Water Connection Assistance Program. It includes general information on the program, eligibility requirements, application information, reference materials, and contact information.

Introduction

On May 24, 2022, the DuPage County Board allocated funding for the Water Connection Assistance Program (“WCAP”). The purpose of WCAP is to encourage DuPage County homeowners to convert to a clean, reliable source of drinking water. WCAP is designed for County homeowners who are currently served by private or community wells and who want to connect to a public water utility for Lake Michigan water. WCAP encourages this switch by partially subsidizing these connection costs. WCAP is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA; P.L. 117-2) was signed into law on March 11, 2021 to provide COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus. The County has received $179,266,585.00 from the American Rescue Plan Act and has allocated $1,000,000 for WCAP eligible expenses. All WCAP payments must comply with ARPA requirements.

Description

DuPage County’s Department of Public Works (“PW”) is administering WCAP. It will be working with the Finance Department, County Audit, the DuPage County Health Department and numerous other departments to review, approve, and process the payments. The Program is scheduled to start accepting applications through its online portal on August 24, 2022. No applications will be accepted after December 1, 2024 pursuant to ARPA spending deadlines.

WCAP is reimbursement-based. Once homeowners have completed their water connection projects and passed inspections, they will submit their reimbursement requests through the WCAP online portal. Homeowners may request reimbursement of up to 50% of their project costs, but total reimbursement costs may not exceed $3,000. Project costs must be substantiated/documented in information uploaded into the WCAP online portal.

Funding will be awarded for complete applications on a “first come, first serve” basis. Homeowners will not be considered for funding until applications are complete and approved; therefore, the County strongly recommends that online portal applications are as complete as possible. This will help avoid delays in approval and improve the likelihood of funding.

A high-level overview of the steps in the process are:

  1. Homeowner completes project
  2. Homeowner passes inspection
  3. Homeowner submits WCAP application online
  4. Staff reviews applications and follows up if needed
  5. Staff approves WCAP application County processes payment and issues reimbursement check

Eligibility

Key eligibility requirements:

  1. Homeowners must complete their water system connection project, pass required inspections, and submit a complete WCAP online application to be eligible.
  2. Homeowners with late or unpaid property taxes are ineligible.
  3. Homeowners with late or unpaid DuPage County sewer bills are ineligible.
  4. Properties must be located in DuPage County to be eligible.
  5. Only residential properties currently serviced by a private or community well are eligible.
  6. There must be an existing watermain available to connect the residential property to be eligible.
  7. Expenses required to connect a private residence to the existing watermain are eligible. These expenses may include connection fees, service line installation costs, interior plumbing modifications, meter purchasing fees, permitting fees, and required infrastructure buy-in fees.
  8. Watermain expenses are ineligible.
  9. The homeowner must apply for, and be granted, all required local, state and federal permits for their project to be eligible.
  10. Reimbursement will be made directly to the homeowner named in the WCAP online portal application. Other parties are ineligible for payment.
  11. All connections that have occurred on or after May 1, 2022 are eligible. Receipts that predate March 3, 2021 are ineligible.
  12. Homeowners must completely and accurately provide and certify all information required by the WCAP online portal application to be eligible. Portal requirements including the following:
    1. Summary list of all invoices/expenses/receipts that equals the total cost of project
    2. Copies of all individual invoices/receipts
    3. Copies of proof of payment such as a check copy, a bank statement copy, or a credit card copy reflecting total payment amount
    4. Copies of all approved local, state, and federal permits required for the project
    5. Copies of most recent property tax bill Copies of final inspection report

WCAP Online Portal Application Access

WCAP portal application

Supplemental Assistance Documents

The following documents are intended to help residents fill out the WCAP portal application.

  • Example Project Budget - The WCAP portal application requires a summary list of project expenses under the “Supporting Documentation Submission” section. This is an excel template showing the desired format. It includes both total expenses and total reimbursement request.
  • Frequently Asked Questions - Once available, other applicant questions and staff answers will be provided in a document here as reference.

Questions

For resident questions on the program, please email ARPAExpenses@dupagecounty.gov.

Reference Materials

For more information on the federal ARPA program, please see:

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