Study on tap water affordability promising for low-income areas

The Kyl Center for Water Policy recently released a study on tap water affordability in Arizona. The study assessed the rates of 659 water providers across the state against two metrics of affordability. Grant Heminger, Policy and Research Analyst at the Kyl Center for Water Policy, joined us to discuss.

The study found most water systems could increase their rates and stay affordable for homes in low-income areas. The findings also showed in Arizona the monthly costs for tap water are much lower than monthly costs for electric power.

Heminger said the Kyl Center measured “4,000 gallons a month for one individual household” to complete the study. There are three metrics that determines the affordability of tap water in the study.

The most common metric is known as the “residential indicator,” which is a nationally recognized tool because it measures “what the cost of water is as a percentage of the median household income in an area,” Heminger said. That is the challenging part of the metric because households range in income therefore Heminger said the study measured at the 20th percentile income.

“Ultimately we found that there is a large difference between large and small systems in Arizona, in terms of water affordability. We found in the large systems in the state that averages for both the nominal cost of water as well as what percentage of income that represents are very, very similar to national averages,” Heminger said.

The study found in the small systems, they are higher than the national averages and the water is less affordable. The economic part happens due to the low number of people in a small system compared to large systems where the cost is spread among more people.

“In the majority, somewhere between 60-75% of community water systems in the state could raise their water rates and stay below a common definition of affordability for low income households and that might be necessary as they have to increase and replace aging infrastructure,” Heminger said.

He concluded that the study provides measurement techniques between small and large systems as well as it helps communities with necessary infrastructure updates that cannot raise rates create affordability in order to maintain safe and healthy water practices.