Opinion: In praise of the monthly water bill
The cost of delivering safe, clean tap water to every household and business in a community is massive. In fact, it may be among the most expensive of all human undertakings. That is why only the wealthiest countries have achieved it at high rates and why 2 billion people on our planet still lack it. Paying the monthly bill that comes with good tap water service is unpleasant, but it beats the alternatives. While it would be nice if some benevolent entity would bear the cost of delivering safe, clean tap water, the reality is that communities that rely on someone else to pay for their water systems often have inadequate or failing service.
-Written by Kathryn Sorensen, former director of Phoenix Water Services and current director of research at the Kyl Center for Water Policy, Arizona State University; Bidtah Becker, director of the Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources; and Manny Teodoro, associate professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.