(DailyDig.com) – Prichard, Alabama, has been suffering for decades from aging water infrastructure that causes the loss of nearly sixty percent of their drinking water, according to a state report on the water system in 2023.
The report cited cracking and corroded infrastructure causing failures in the pipes, resulting in the loss of water through neglect. Prichard has been seeing its population decrease, outrageous water bills, and a financial burden that causes the citizens to experience poverty, according to experts and current residents.
Carletta Davis, a community activist, relayed stories of residents being shocked when the monthly bill for water usage came in at hundreds of dollars. She said that they have to decide whether to pay the bill or buy medicine and food.
Many older communities in the US suffer the same degradation of their water systems. This issue is often seen in rural or industrial areas that have lost a portion of their population due to the decline of industry. Those who can afford to leave have done so, leaving the poorer members of their population who find their community leaders struggling to service their drinking water needs with failing systems, experts say.
The water bills for these communities are taking over more of a household’s budget, which becomes increasingly burdensome for poor families. According to an analysis of some areas in North Carolina, a minimum wage earner would need to work nearly 50 days each year in order to pay for the water bill for six people.
A Duke University chairman, Martin Doyle, discussed the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, exposing the residents of the city to lead at dangerous levels. He explained that this will become an issue throughout the US in the next few decades.
Utilities with aging water systems caused the disaster in Flint. The quality of the water delivered to residents will decline as the systems fail. The cost of updating those systems may become an expense that the residents cannot cover.
Michigan’s Department of Environment director, Eric Oswald, said that it will take decades to repair the nation’s water system.
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