Detroit Cuts Off Water to 30,000, Builds 1,000-Foot Water Slide-Fiction!

Detroit Cuts Off Water to 30,000, Builds 1,000-Foot Water Slide-Fiction!

 
Summary of eRumor: 
Detroit city officials cut off water to 30,000 residents and planned to build a 1,000-foot water slide through the center of the city.
The Truth:
This claim is false.
It’s true that Detroit has disconnected water service to thousands of customers who had not paid their bills, but that’s not related to a private company’s plans to set up a 1,000-foot water slide on Michigan Avenue.
The uproar started when Slide the City, a Utah-based company that brings 1,000-foot long slip-and-slides to cities across America, announced that a number of cities in Michigan, including Detroit, had been added to its schedule for summer of 2015.
The backlash on social media was instant. A meme that shows a two-lane waterslide and says, “Detroit cuts off water to 30,000 families, builds 1,000-foot water slide downtown and charges $15 per ride,” went viral on Facebook. A caption below the meme reads:
“Detroit just announced they will build a 1,000 foot luxury water slide through downtown and charge customers $15 per ride while they continue to shut off water to 3,000 low-income homes per week. Share if you agree this is deeply immoral and insane!”
First, Detroit didn’t announce that it would build a 1,000-foot luxury water slide. Rather, a private company announced that it would set the water slide up in Detroit.
And Detroit isn’t shutting off anyone’s water because of the water slide, either.
CBS Detroit report from November of 2014 said the city had disconnected water service to 31,300 customers who were behind on their bills. The city needed the money for sewer repairs and capital improvements, officials said.
This eRumor tries to combine two unrelated stories to prove a point, but it’s not accurate.