Want to help pay someone else's past-due water bill? There's a site for that!

Two young women, Tiffani Ashley Bell and Kristy Tillman, decided it was time to do something about the thousands of Detroit citizens who are overdue on their water bills and are receiving shut-off notices by the Detroit Water and Sewage Department. So they started a website called Detroit Water Project.

The site announces:

We match people in Detroit to donors for direct water bill help.

Here's how it works per the website: a Detroit resident provides their full name, address, phone number, DWSD account number, and their unpaid balance. Then, as donors submit their email addresses with donation amounts, a verification and matchmaking process begins. As soon as a match is made, the donor is contacted and instructed to pay the bill online directly to DWSD. The process is completely anonymous unless the account holder wishes to release their name to the donor.

The women explain:

We were skeptical of campaigns collecting money on behalf of Detroit residents and wanted to find a way to verify past due bills and have donations paid directly to Detroit Water and Sewerage Department in order to help Detroit citizens reconnect their water.

Because, the site states, "Water is a human rights issue."

The Associated Press reported Monday that Detroit has suspended its "aggressive" shut-offs for 15 days as the situation plays out in court of the nation's largest ever municipal bankruptcy. The report states that water service was stopped to 7,200 homes and businesses in the month of June. So far, water has been restored back to 43 percent for those who paid their bill. The city intends to use the 15 day hiatus to "educate customers on how to cure their overdue bills and avoid shutoffs."

Of course if that doesn't work, there is always the option to head over to Detroit Water Project, break out your check card, and "Turn on Detroit's water."

Photo credit: Rebecca Cook/Reuters