 Affordable access to reliable and safe drinking water: issues and implications for inequality in developed countriesSteven M. Smith and Julia Talbot-Jones Chapter 5 in Elgar Companion on Inequality and Natural Resources, 2026, pp 80-107 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: This chapter reviews the problems of water access, water quality, and affordability, and how they crosscut with socio-demographics in the drinking water context for the “developed world,” by focusing on two countries: Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States. Although a large proportion of households in each of these contexts have access to piped water, the small share that does not is relatively large in nominal terms and often comprises marginalized and vulnerable populations. Risks to access are further compounded by climate change increasing supply uncertainty. In addition, issues associated with water quality are ongoing, especially amid growing economic activities and the proliferation of pollutants. These issues have implications for affordability and equity, as water prices continue to rise relative to income. In this chapter we cover these trends and discuss the underlying economics and policies of the water service industry that contribute to these ongoing inequalities. Keywords: Aotearoa New Zealand; United States; Water rates; Water quality; Piped water (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:23071_5 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.