George McGraw

It seems like every day Michiganders wake up to more bad water news. First, it was the callous poisoning of the municipal water supply in Flint. Last summer, the state reported that hundreds of water systems contain high levels of harmful chemicals known as PFAS. Then this fall, tainted water from lead pipes was found in more than half of Detroit’s public schools. Across the state people are asking, “What happened to our water?”

Michiganders are demanding answers, and they’re not alone. As water advocates, we’re hearing from more and more communities across the country that still don't have the dignity of safe, working taps or toilets–modern necessities the rest of us take for granted. But what’s the scope of this problem, really? Who are these Americans without access to clean, running water hidden inside the richest society in history?

The answer to that question is surprisingly elusive.



Our best estimate is that some 1.6 million Americans still live without rudimentary plumbing due to a lack of infrastructure or shutoffs resulting from the inability to pay, a reality that continues to plague too many people in Detroit. These Americans have fallen into what’s called the “water-access gap” and it’s difficult to climb out.

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The supporting census data, however, is fragmentary and inconclusive. The real number may be higher than 1.6 million. Moreover, this estimate only outlines the problem; it doesn’t identify which communities struggle without modern water- and wastewater facilities, how they’re coping and the public-health consequences of living without such necessities.

It also doesn’t tell us why these communities still lack access to water and sanitation in the 21st Century, and what we can do about it.

To find answers to those questions, my organization, DigDeep, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, just launched an unprecedented “hotspot study” of water and sanitation issues around the country. We’re teaming up with researchers from Michigan State University and water-industry sector experts from the US Water Alliance to uncover the ground-level data required to develop an effective response to this crisis.

“Uneven access to clean water and basic sanitation predominantly affects vulnerable groups, such as low-income people in rural areas, communities of color, tribal communities and migrants,” says MSU Sociology Professor Stephen Gasteyer, who oversees the university’s study. “Fixing the problem must involve building a better understanding of who lacks accessible, affordable and safe water and sanitation. It also requires engaging with people in affected communities to understand how to address and change the conditions, policies, structures, and systems that have created this largely invisible crisis.”

The year-long study embraces a comprehensive approach. MSU researchers will analyze census data relating to plumbing access, race, and income; that information will be combined with other data sets, such as Clean Water Act violations, water-borne illness outbreaks, infrastructure failures, and water shut-offs to arrive at a 360-degree view of affected families.

Meanwhile, researchers from DigDeep and the US Water Alliance will embed themselves inside six communities struggling with water and sanitation issues to better understand these challenges in their local context. These so-called "hotspots" include Puerto Rico, California’s Central Valley, Appalachia, the colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border, tribal lands in the Southwest, and rural counties of the Deep South. Working closely with local partners, researchers will conduct interviews, community meetings, and intensive field work to provide depth and texture to the MSU data. The affected communities will guide the local research process themselves, exploring creative solutions to their water and sanitation challenges.

The study has three primary goals: create a national understanding of the water-access problem; identify promising, scalable community-focused models for providing universal access to running water and indoor plumbing; and develop recommendations for the policies and funding necessary to extend water access to all Americans.

Uncovering the hard data on this persistent problem is the first, crucial step toward closing the water-access gap in America. Michigan can be proud that one of its finest universities is working to end this crisis, once and for all.

George McGraw is the founder and executive director of DigDeep in Los Angeles.