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The widespread and unjust drinking water and clean water crisis in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • J. Tom Mueller

    (Utah State University)

  • Stephen Gasteyer

    (Michigan State University)

Abstract

Many households in the United States face issues of incomplete plumbing and poor water quality. Prior scholarship on this issue has focused on one dimension of water hardship at a time, leaving the full picture incomplete. Here we begin to complete this picture by documenting incomplete plumbing and poor drinking water quality for the entire United States, as well as poor wastewater quality for the 39 states and territories where data is reliable. In doing so, we find evidence of a regionally-clustered, socially unequal household water crisis. Using data from the American Community Survey and the Environmental Protection Agency, we show there are 489,836 households lacking complete plumbing, 1,165 community water systems in Safe Drinking Water Act Serious Violation, and 9,457 Clean Water Act permittees in Significant Noncompliance. Further, elevated levels of water hardship are associated with rurality, poverty, indigeneity, education, and age—representing a nationwide environmental injustice.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Tom Mueller & Stephen Gasteyer, 2021. "The widespread and unjust drinking water and clean water crisis in the United States," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-23898-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23898-z
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Austin, Wes & Pan, Siyu & Parthum, Bryan M., 2024. "When it Rains, it Pours: Severe Weather Events, Flooding, and Drinking Water Quality," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 348901, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    2. Sara Hughes & Christine J Kirchhoff & Katelynn Conedera & Mirit Friedman, 2023. "The Municipal Drinking Water Database," PLOS Water, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(4), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Joshua D. Miller & Chad Staddon & Aaron Salzberg & Julius B. Lucks & Wändi Bruine de Bruin & Sera L. Young, 2024. "Self-reported anticipated harm from drinking water across 141 countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Venkatesh Baskaran & Velkennedy R, 2022. "A systematic review on the role of geographical information systems in monitoring and achieving sustainable development goal 6: Clean water and sanitation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1417-1425, October.
    5. Hunnicutt, Patrick & Henderson, Geoffrey, 2023. "Particulates Matter: Policy Failures, Air Pollution, and Collective Political Participation in the United States," Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series qt51h8846s, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California.
    6. repec:ags:aaea22:335903 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Alasdair Cohen & Md Rasheduzzaman & Amanda Darling & Leigh-Anne Krometis & Marc Edwards & Teresa Brown & Tahmina Ahmed & Erin Wettstone & Suporn Pholwat & Mami Taniuchi & Elizabeth T. Rogawski McQuade, 2022. "Bottled and Well Water Quality in a Small Central Appalachian Community: Household-Level Analysis of Enteric Pathogens, Inorganic Chemicals, and Health Outcomes in Rural Southwest Virginia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    8. Lorelay Mendoza Grijalva & Allisa G. Hastie & Meili Gong & Brenda Rojas Cala & Brandon Hunter & Stephanie Wallace & Rojelio Mejia & Catherine Flowers & Khalid K. Osman & William A. Tarpeh, 2025. "Community-driven and water quality indicators of sanitation system failures in a rural U.S. community," Papers 2503.22938, arXiv.org.
    9. Miriam Wamsley & Eric S Coker & Robin Taylor Wilson & Kevin Henry & Heather M Murphy, 2024. "Social vulnerability and exposure to private well water," PLOS Water, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(12), pages 1-21, December.

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