For-profit water corporations, federal cuts and climate crisis are ‘supercharging water rate hikes’, study co-author says
US households are paying 62% more for drinking water than they did a decade ago – outpacing inflation, grocery prices and household incomes, according to a new study.
Food & Water Watch, a Washington DC-based non-profit, analyzed 2025 billing data from the 500 largest community water systems in the US, which together serve about 155 million people, or 45% of the country’s population. The analysis compared current rates with data from a similar Food & Water Watch survey conducted in 2015. The study does not include wastewater or storm water charges, which are often billed separately from drinking water service.
In 2025, the average household using 60,000 gallons of water paid $531 for drinking water service, according to the study. However, costs varied widely, with annual bills ranging from $133 at the cheapest system to $1,416 at the most expensive.
That’s about about a cent a gallon, i.e. negligible cost. A more impactful metric is how this affects the cost of goods and services. Water is largely consumed indirectly.
It’s not a negligible cost increase when the prices are usually a fraction of a cent per gallon.
I pay $0.00335 per gallon, so an increase of $0.01 would mean my rate tripled.
You would still only pay a negligible amount of your income. The issue isn’t residential but industry use becoming more expensive as water is largely consumed indirectly.
My bill would go from $18 to $54, which is not a negligible amount for a lot of people.
A month? Why are you using so much water? Why is your budget this right in US and you are using so much water?
The average daily water usage in the US is 100 gallons a day, or 3000 per billing cycle.
The $18 was for 2900 gallons of water for a two person household, so we actually used less than half of the average.
Ok, with two people sharing that bill that’s more sensible. But I question if that is a relevant cost in you household. You probably spend more than 2000$ a month. You would expect a below average consumption imsince lawns exist.
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