Measuring water affordability and the financial capability of utilities

The cost of providing water services is increasing, placing greater financial burdens on individual households and utilities. Five metrics were calculated at multiple volumes usage applied to 1791 utilities, estimating bills from 2020 rates data, gauge in four states. More than a fifth the population 77% utilities was experiencing poverty, suggesting widespread poverty major contributor utility capability challenges. Income Dedicated Water Service metric developed understand how many share similar burden, exploring both depth prevalence affordability Depending use, tenth third work more day each month afford bills. This approach an interactive visualization tool bring transparency scale challenges (https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/water-affordability/water-affordability-dashboard).