The cost of water

Yesterday, The Guardian reported on rising costs for drinking water in the U.S.:

US households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.

Food & Water Watch, a Washington DC-based non-profit, analyzed 2025 billing data from the 500 largest community water systems in the US, which together serve about 155 million people, or 45% of the country’s population. The analysis compared current rates with data from a similar Food & Water Watch survey conducted in 2015. The study does not include wastewater or storm water charges, which are often billed separately from drinking water service.

In 2025, the average household using 60,000 gallons of water paid $531 for drinking water service, according to the study. However, costs varied widely, with annual bills ranging from $133 at the cheapest system to $1,416 at the most expensive.

I've been keeping careful financial records since moving into this house 26 years ago, so I looked up our numbers.  In 2015 our house used 60,000 gallons of water at a cost of $158 (excluding stormwater and sewer as per above study).  In 2025 our usage dropped to 41,000 gallons (in part because we have mostly stopped watering the lawn and gardens) at a cost of $177.

Adjusting those costs for usage, in 2015 we were paying $2.60 per thousand gallons of water.  For 2025 the cost was $4.31 per thousand gallons.  That's an increase of about 70% in ten years.  Some of that increased cost may have resulted from the community replacing lead-containing distribution pipes in the circuits.  Presumably the rest results from their costs for salaries, maintenance, water treatment, and other infrastruture upgrades.  

The Guardian article has informed commentary on the reasons for the national increase, noting "corporate water abuses" (in years prior to datacenters), federal disinvestment, and climate change, and expecially the "major disparity between publicly owned and for-profit water systems."

Corporate-owned utilities charged the average household $823 a year, compared with $494 for publicly owned systems – a difference of $329, or 67%. Corporate systems accounted for just 11% of the 500 systems the study analyzed but represented 44% of the 25 most expensive systems. The study added that 70% of the top 10 were owned by for-profit corporations.

I'm not angry about our increase; I'm delighted that fresh clean (good-tasting) water is available at the turn of a tap.  I wonder if any readers here have similar long-term data.