If there’s anything worse than having water that contains dangerous levels of lead, it’s facing the highest water bills in the nation for that undrinkable water.
Rank |
Location |
State |
Population |
Ownership |
Annual Cost |
1 |
Flint |
MI |
124,943 |
Public |
$910.05 |
2 |
Padre Dam |
CA |
96,589 |
Public |
$826.94 |
3 |
American Water – West |
PA |
93,368 |
Private |
$792.84 |
4 |
American Water – Pittsburgh |
PA |
516,411 |
Private |
$792.84 |
5 |
American Water – Scranton |
PA |
134,570 |
Private |
$792.84 |
Compare these bills to the average in Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of the desert, where the average annual water bill is only $84.24. Which … really? That’s kind of insane, all on its own. And people in Pennsylvania … why are you paying a private water company more than six times what many of the public water companies in your region charge? Huh?
In any case, Flint’s prices were reduced in 2015, but not because the water was so bad. They were reduced because a judge ruled that some of the increases made under emergency managers were illegal. Still, residents faced bills that added up to a serious cost. And because (like with most water systems) there’s a minimum payment, even residents who avoided drinking the tap water continued to receive bills for water they didn’t use, didn’t want, and couldn’t drink.
But now, residents of Flint are getting another price drop, and it’s retroactive to when the source was changed to the Flint River, and lead began to leach into the city’s water supply.
The plan gives customers a lump-sum credit for 65 percent of what they’ve been billed for water usage since April 2014, plus 65 percent off on future water bills until testing shows the water is safe to drink.
So rejoice, residents of Flint. So long as your water is unsafe, you only have to pay 35 percent … for water that’s, you know, unsafe. Please remember to use your lead-removing filter.