This artifact synthesizes research conducted and published by the Guardian US and co-published by Consumer Reports as apart of their ongoing investigation into the Water Crisis in America. After analyzing 12 diverse cities in the United States, it's been found that the combined price of water and sewage increased by an average of 80% between 2010 and 2018, with more than two-fifths of residents in some cities living in neighborhoods with unaffordable bills. The water affordability crisis now coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic, where household energy insecurity, or the ability to afford basic necessities such as clean water, electricity, and heat, is exacerbated. This is a circumstance pervading not only households that are typically vulnerable to energy insecurity, but also households of working America that are newly energy vulnerable due to the conditions created by COVID-19.
The research has shown that between 2010 and 2018 water bills rose by at least 27 percent. Meanwhile, federal aid to public water utilities, which serve around 87 percent of people, has plummeted while maintenance, environmental and health threats, climate shocks, and other expenditures have skyrocketed. Rising costs are disproportionately impacting poor Americans. In Cleveland, New Orleans, and Santa Fe, N.M., about three-quarters of low-income residents live in neighborhoods where average water and sewage bills are unaffordable. Nationwide, water bills were almost universally unaffordable for the poorest poor in 2018. In 11 of the 12 cities, 100 percent of the population with incomes below 50 percent of the Federal Poverty Line lived in neighborhoods with unaffordable water bills, with the twelfth city, Fresno, Calif., reaching 99.9 percent.
The issue of water affordability is America can largely be attributed to federal neglect for funding water systems. At least $35 billion every year for 20 years is the approximate investment the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says is needed just to comply with federal safety regulations for water, sewage, and storm water, meanwhile federal funding for water systems has fallen by 77 percent in real terms since its peak in 1977. This leaves local utilities to raise money that is needed to upgrade infrastructure comply with standards for toxic contaminants like PFAS, lead, and algae blooms, and to adapt to extreme weather conditions like drought and floods linked to global heating. Part of the problem is that maintenance and cleanup projects were deferred by utilities, without squirreling away money or planning for the climate crisis.
The United States is the only industrialized country without a regulatory system, responsible for monitoring rates and performance, leading to the rising cost of water which has significantly outstripped the consumer price index over the past decade. Although there are federal programs to assist low-income households afford other utilities, such as energy and telecom bills, there is no program currently to assist these households with water bills.
COVID-19 has exposed the troubles of Americans who cannot afford water in their homes and nationwide, nobody knows how many Americans were without water at the start of the pandemic—nor how many were disconnected. What is known is that financial aid to help families and utilities keep taps running was excluded from federal rescue packages.
In Philadelphia, the water crisis is grave and disproportionately impacts households of color. Advocates working in a predominantly low-income Black and brown neighborhood in 2014, came across people who’d been without running water for decades—forced to use plastic bags for the toilet and bottled water to wash their hands. Some people were denied a water account because their names weren’t on the deeds or lease—so-called tangled titles which are fairly common among low-income communities. Others were shutoff after accumulating large debts, sometimes inherited, often exacerbated by fines, and some simply couldn’t afford to pay for a replacement pipe or meter.
The Guardian's research shows that between 2010 and 2018, the number of poor Philadelphians living in neighborhoods where water is unaffordable doubled to 54 percent as bills topped $900. During the first three months of the pandemic, the city reconnected almost 9,000 homes.
In 2017, Philadelphia created the tiered assistance program (TAP) to make people's utility bills affordable throughout the city. The program has made an impact: About 15,000 people are currently enrolled, though this is still far short of the 60,000 households estimated to be eligible even before the current economic disaster. But, the city continued to convert water debt into tax liens, and once a month, properties are auctioned off at a sheriff’s tax sale. In a move welcomed by advocates, city officials recently agreed to introduce debt forgiveness, which should mean that TAP enrollees will see their water debts wiped—no matter how big—after two years of compliance.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic detriments of the pandemic persist through March of 2021, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has decided not to extend the COVID-19 utility shutoff moratorium, and beginning on April 1st utility shut-offs for water, gas, and electric services will resume. This decision will place 847,000 Pennsylvania households at risk of losing water, heat, and electric service, as many households are months behind on their utility bills due to losing employment amongst other struggles induced by COVID-19. Although the Philadelphia Water Department announced it will postpone residential shutoffs until April 2022, they simultaneously plan to raise rates by $141 million over the next two years, meaning that residents could be paying 17.5% more per month for water. Households with degraded infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods that use more water due to leaks would likely receive bills that are much higher, leading to cumlative water debts that will debilitate residents long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Nina Lakhani, "Millions of Americans Can't Afford Water, as Bills Rise 80% in a Decade", contributed by Morgan Sarao and Alison Kenner, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 12 March 2021, accessed 25 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/millions-americans-cant-afford-water-bills-rise-80-decade
Critical Commentary
This artifact synthesizes research conducted and published by the Guardian US and co-published by Consumer Reports as apart of their ongoing investigation into the Water Crisis in America. After analyzing 12 diverse cities in the United States, it's been found that the combined price of water and sewage increased by an average of 80% between 2010 and 2018, with more than two-fifths of residents in some cities living in neighborhoods with unaffordable bills. The water affordability crisis now coincides with the COVID-19 pandemic, where household energy insecurity, or the ability to afford basic necessities such as clean water, electricity, and heat, is exacerbated. This is a circumstance pervading not only households that are typically vulnerable to energy insecurity, but also households of working America that are newly energy vulnerable due to the conditions created by COVID-19.
The research has shown that between 2010 and 2018 water bills rose by at least 27 percent. Meanwhile, federal aid to public water utilities, which serve around 87 percent of people, has plummeted while maintenance, environmental and health threats, climate shocks, and other expenditures have skyrocketed. Rising costs are disproportionately impacting poor Americans. In Cleveland, New Orleans, and Santa Fe, N.M., about three-quarters of low-income residents live in neighborhoods where average water and sewage bills are unaffordable. Nationwide, water bills were almost universally unaffordable for the poorest poor in 2018. In 11 of the 12 cities, 100 percent of the population with incomes below 50 percent of the Federal Poverty Line lived in neighborhoods with unaffordable water bills, with the twelfth city, Fresno, Calif., reaching 99.9 percent.
The issue of water affordability is America can largely be attributed to federal neglect for funding water systems. At least $35 billion every year for 20 years is the approximate investment the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says is needed just to comply with federal safety regulations for water, sewage, and storm water, meanwhile federal funding for water systems has fallen by 77 percent in real terms since its peak in 1977. This leaves local utilities to raise money that is needed to upgrade infrastructure comply with standards for toxic contaminants like PFAS, lead, and algae blooms, and to adapt to extreme weather conditions like drought and floods linked to global heating. Part of the problem is that maintenance and cleanup projects were deferred by utilities, without squirreling away money or planning for the climate crisis.
The United States is the only industrialized country without a regulatory system, responsible for monitoring rates and performance, leading to the rising cost of water which has significantly outstripped the consumer price index over the past decade. Although there are federal programs to assist low-income households afford other utilities, such as energy and telecom bills, there is no program currently to assist these households with water bills.
COVID-19 has exposed the troubles of Americans who cannot afford water in their homes and nationwide, nobody knows how many Americans were without water at the start of the pandemic—nor how many were disconnected. What is known is that financial aid to help families and utilities keep taps running was excluded from federal rescue packages.
In Philadelphia, the water crisis is grave and disproportionately impacts households of color. Advocates working in a predominantly low-income Black and brown neighborhood in 2014, came across people who’d been without running water for decades—forced to use plastic bags for the toilet and bottled water to wash their hands. Some people were denied a water account because their names weren’t on the deeds or lease—so-called tangled titles which are fairly common among low-income communities. Others were shutoff after accumulating large debts, sometimes inherited, often exacerbated by fines, and some simply couldn’t afford to pay for a replacement pipe or meter.
The Guardian's research shows that between 2010 and 2018, the number of poor Philadelphians living in neighborhoods where water is unaffordable doubled to 54 percent as bills topped $900. During the first three months of the pandemic, the city reconnected almost 9,000 homes.
In 2017, Philadelphia created the tiered assistance program (TAP) to make people's utility bills affordable throughout the city. The program has made an impact: About 15,000 people are currently enrolled, though this is still far short of the 60,000 households estimated to be eligible even before the current economic disaster. But, the city continued to convert water debt into tax liens, and once a month, properties are auctioned off at a sheriff’s tax sale. In a move welcomed by advocates, city officials recently agreed to introduce debt forgiveness, which should mean that TAP enrollees will see their water debts wiped—no matter how big—after two years of compliance.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic detriments of the pandemic persist through March of 2021, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has decided not to extend the COVID-19 utility shutoff moratorium, and beginning on April 1st utility shut-offs for water, gas, and electric services will resume. This decision will place 847,000 Pennsylvania households at risk of losing water, heat, and electric service, as many households are months behind on their utility bills due to losing employment amongst other struggles induced by COVID-19. Although the Philadelphia Water Department announced it will postpone residential shutoffs until April 2022, they simultaneously plan to raise rates by $141 million over the next two years, meaning that residents could be paying 17.5% more per month for water. Households with degraded infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods that use more water due to leaks would likely receive bills that are much higher, leading to cumlative water debts that will debilitate residents long after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.