The typical American household consumes approximately 300 gallons of water daily. However, a segment of the population still experiences water insecurity, a troubling trend that is increasing and not limited to the southwestern United States. A group of Arizona State University academics have documented this emerging development in a new paper titled “When the Household is the Utility: Ensuring Equitable Water Service for Rural U.S. Communities Served by Decentralized Water Systems.” Co-authored by Lee E. Voth-Gaeddert, a research professor with the Biodesign Institute, and Claire Cropper, a PhD student and researcher in ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, the paper reveals that economically disadvantaged populations and rural households that aren’t connected to piped water are much more likely to experience water insecurity. In terms of numbers, that’s roughly 12% of the U.S. population or about 40 million people, Voth-Gaeddert and Cropper estimate.