How Long Will We Be Able to Afford Water?
When you think of water security, perhaps your mind turns to images of some nameless, faraway place where private water companies hike up rates on poor people desperate for water. It may come as a surprise, then, that 12 percent of Americans can’t afford clean water in their homes, according to a new analysis.
“If water rates rise at projected amounts over the next five years, conservative projections estimate that the percentage of U.S. households who will find water bills unaffordable could triple from 11.9% to 35.6%,” Michigan State University assistant professor of geography Elizabeth Mack and MSU undergraduate Sarah Wrase write in PLoS One.