Many Americans, even in some of the nation’s wealthiest areas, are living without running water, according to findings detailed in a new study.
From the 2014 Flint, Michigan, water crisis—where contaminated drinking water created a public health emergency—to the persistent lack of clean water in some Northern Canadian Indigenous communities, access to safe, running water has become a growing issue in neighboring countries.
The new study, published in Nature Cities, suggests that the water crisis has worsened over time, initially triggered by shifts in the housing market and the 2008 economic crash. Since 2017, the problem has expanded, impacting border areas and cities such as Portland, Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Philadelphia, as well as major urban centers like Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
Racial disparities and economic challenges disproportionately affect Black communities across the United States, with the study identifying a lack of household water—a condition the authors term “plumbing poverty”—in 12 of the 15 largest cities.
In June of last year, Capital B News reported on the clean water crisis in Black communities. Brooke Floyd, coordinator for the Jackson People’s Assembly, a social justice organization in Jackson, Mississippi, stated, “People just don’t get the big picture. There are a lot of things that are making [the water crisis] a bigger storm. People [have] lost their lives.”
Lead researcher Katie Meehan, a Professor of Environmental Justice at King’s College London, along with researchers from the University of Arizona, highlighted the urgent need for action, noting the findings “should raise alarm bells.” They emphasized that meeting the United Nations goal for universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene would require a “heroic” transformation of housing conditions and social infrastructure in the U.S.
Meehan remarked in a statement: “It is alarming how many US cities, including those thought of as affluent and growing, are now home to more people living in situations of extreme poverty, namely without access to running water. Our research is the first effort to track these changes over time, starting in the 1970s and noting a dramatic urbanization of plumbing poverty in the 1990s and sharp acceleration triggered by the 2008 crash and the current housing and cost-of-living crisis.”
She further explained that high housing costs and other financial pressures have forced many low-income individuals into homes without running water. These situations often arise due to unpaid utility bills, poor landlord maintenance, or living in non-residential spaces. Homelessness also contributes to the problem.
Lucy Everitt, a Ph.D. student at King’s College London and a member of the research team, pointed out that water shut-offs in U.S. cities are a hidden crisis, often indirectly reflected in census data.
“New York City tops the ‘worst offenders’ list for the total number of households in a US metro without running water. Despite this, the municipal Water Board issued over 2,400 shutoff notices in March of this year alone to properties behind in their payments. Because our analysis tracks the status of running water in households, as measured by the US Census, we anticipate capturing many thousands of households whose access is denied by their inability to pay,” Everitt explained.
The study, which tracked the issue over 51 years in the 50 largest U.S. cities, found that 3.5 million households lacked running water in the 1970s. By 2021, that number had decreased, but 500,000 households—or 1.1 million people—still lacked access. This equates to one in every 245 households nationwide living without running water.
The research also revealed that since 1990, plumbing poverty has shifted from rural to urban areas, with 71% of those affected now residing in cities. In 2021, New York City had the highest number of people living in plumbing poverty (56,900), followed by Los Angeles (45,900) and San Francisco (24,400). People of color made up the majority of those affected in 12 of the 15 largest U.S. cities, including Los Angeles (82%), Miami (79%), San Francisco (74%), and Houston (71%).
“Our results underscore that the success in reducing plumbing poverty in select U.S. cities over the past twenty years is uneven, with households of color often left behind. In Philadelphia, for example, people of color comprised 40% of the total population but represented 66% of people without access to running water in 2021,” said Dr. Jason R. Jurjevich, Assistant Professor in the School of Geography, Development, and Environment at the University of Arizona.
The researchers called for improved monitoring of water access, reforms in data collection, and significant changes to low-income assistance programs to address the barriers created by the housing crisis and rising living costs. Without decisive action, the issue of plumbing poverty is likely to persist, leaving millions of Americans without access to one of life’s most essential resources.
The new study, “Urban inequality, the housing crisis and deteriorating water access in US cities,” appeared in the journal Nature Cities on December 19, 2024.
Chrissy Newton is a PR professional and founder of VOCAB Communications. She hosts the Rebelliously Curious podcast, which can be found on The Debrief’s YouTube Channel. Follow her on X: @ChrissyNewton and at chrissynewton.com.