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Understanding the Cost of Basic Drinking Water Services in the United States: A National Assessment

The cost of basic drinking water services has implications for affordability, investment capacity, and public health. The fragmentation of drinking water services in the United States makes it difficult to reliably track and compare what customers pay for basic drinking water services. This paper uses a new, national dataset to examine the social, political, environmental, and institutional drivers of the cost of basic drinking water services, measured as the cost to households of 6000 gal of water per month. We find basic drinking water service costs vary widely across the United States. Costs are generally higher in smaller and more liberal cities and lower in places that rely on groundwater sources. Our findings provide a unique national perspective on variation in, and drivers of, the cost of basic water services and can inform efforts to improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of drinking water services in the United States.

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Work Title Understanding the Cost of Basic Drinking Water Services in the United States: A National Assessment
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Sara Hughes
  2. Christine J. Kirchhoff
  3. Michelle Lee
  4. David Switzer
Keyword
  1. Affordability
  2. Policy
  3. Water costs
  4. Water politics
  5. Water rates
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. AWWA Water Science
Publication Date January 23, 2025
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1002/aws2.70014
Deposited June 20, 2025

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Version 1
published

  • Created

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Added Hughes_etal_2025_Understanding_the_Cost_of_Basic_Drinking_Water_Services_in_the_United_States-1.pdf

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Added Creator Sara Hughes

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Added Creator Christine J. Kirchhoff

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Added Creator Michelle Lee

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Added Creator David Switzer

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Published

    June 20, 2025 07:01 by Researcher Metadata Database

  • Updated

    June 20, 2025 22:06 by [unknown user]

  • Updated Keyword Show Changes

    July 25, 2025 13:57 by avs5190

    Keyword
    • Affordability, Policy, Water costs, Water politics, Water rates

Version 2
published

  • Created

    October 24, 2025 12:13 by avs5190

  • Updated Creator Sara Hughes

    October 24, 2025 12:13 by avs5190

  • Updated Creator Michelle Lee

    October 24, 2025 12:13 by avs5190

  • Updated Creator David Switzer

    October 24, 2025 12:13 by avs5190

  • Deleted Hughes_etal_2025_Understanding_the_Cost_of_Basic_Drinking_Water_Services_in_the_United_States-1.pdf

    October 24, 2025 12:13 by avs5190

  • Added AccessibleCopy_7-25_Understanding_the_Cost_of_Basic_Drinking_Water-tagged.pdf

    October 24, 2025 12:14 by avs5190

  • Published

    October 24, 2025 12:14 by avs5190