Safe drinking water for small low-income communities: the long road from violation to remediation

Abstract

Small, low-income communities in the United States disproportionately lack access to safe drinking water (i.e. water that meets regulated quality standards). At a community level, the literature has broadly claimed that a major barrier to safe drinking water access is low technical, managerial, and financial capacity. At a broader structural level, the environmental justice literature has shown that historical neglect of low-income communities of color has resulted in numerous water systems without the financial and political resources to meet water quality standards. This study investigates the contemporary processes by which distributive injustices persist in California’s Central Valley. The study uses key informant interviews with a range of stakeholders, including employees at the state, county and community, non-profit organizations, and engineers, to understand why sustainable water quality solutions for small low-income communities remain such a challenge. The interviews are structured around a decision chain, which builds out the specific steps needed to go from a maximum contaminant level violation to remediation. The resulting decision chain makes visible the multiple steps at multiple stages with multiple actors that are needed to arrive at a solution to substandard water quality. It shows the numerous nodes at which progress can be stalled, and thus functions as a behind-the-scenes look at the (re)production of persistent inequalities. The complexity of the process shows why having the technical, managerial, financial capacity needed to get to a safe water system is not a reasonable expectation for most small community water systems. Inequalities are continually being produced and cemented, often by the very steps aimed towards remediation, thus making persistent disparities in safe drinking water access a de facto state-sanctioned process that compounds a discriminatory historical legacy.

Small Community Water Systems Have the Highest Prevalence of Mn in Drinking Water in California, USA

“…Previous analyses of primary contaminant violation in community water systems have also reported higher instances of primary contaminant violations in smaller systems and have attributed this difference to difficulty in accessing treatment options. ,,− Larger systems have better economy-of-scale and can easily distribute management and treatment costs across a large user base. In contrast, since small systems serve less users, the costs of additional treatment may no longer meet user affordability requirements. − …”

Measuring the gaps in drinking water quality and policy across regional and remote Australia

“…The reality in reportedly high-performing countries, including Canada 92,93 and the United States [94][95][96] , is that water access is uneven and many challenges remain 97,98 . Race, income, housing, geography, and utility size correspond to gaps in water access and drinking water quality 94,95,97,99 . Societal power imbalances, colonial practices of the state, and fragmented governance can (re)produce unsafe, unacceptable, and untrusted water services in Indigenous communities 93,100,101 .…”

Unlocking the potential of polymeric desalination membranes by understanding molecular-level interactions and transport mechanisms

“…144 Research goals should specifically work to expose and address water challenges that affect marginalized populations since water contamination from industrial runoff and inadequate sanitation infrastructure is most prominent in these communities. 150,151 An example of framing goals in this manner is in the area of lead and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination where, in addition to developing technologies to remove toxic compounds, scientists have worked across disciplines to highlight disparities in exposure to these harmful chemicals and link them to environmental and human health outcomes. [152][153][154][155] Successful consideration of how water challenges affect communities requires thoughtfully communicating findings to inform the public and building an understanding of concerns from communities with diverse political, cultural, religious, ethnic, and environmental perspectives.…”

“…144 Research goals should specifically work to expose and address water challenges that affect marginalized populations since water contamination from industrial runoff and inadequate sanitation infrastructure is most prominent in these communities. 150,151…”