Bridget R Scanlon et al (2023). “Drinking water quality and social vulnerability linkages at the system level in the United States.” Environmental Research Letters 18, 094039. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ace2d9 [open access]
Abstract: Growing recognition of water quality concerns, particularly in socially vulnerable communities in the United States, has prompted recent policies and investments to improve drinking water system performance. Current environmental justice tools limit measurement of drinking water quality issues to proximity to point-source contamination, such as superfund sites and social vulnerability to county level or zip code level data. We examined relationships between health-based (HB) drinking water quality violations and social vulnerability using a new database of community water system (CWS) service areas and a modified Social Vulnerability Index, which we specifically designed for drinking water quality. CWSs with HB violations disproportionately impact socially vulnerable communities, with ∼70% of such systems characterized by high social vulnerability. Increased risks of drinking water quality violations in high socially vulnerable communities are attributed in part to violations related to pervasive, naturally occurring contaminants (e.g. arsenic) requiring treatment and difficulties for small systems to implement and maintain treatment systems. Notably, recurrence of any HB violation is also related to social vulnerability (R = 0.73). The relative importance of different social parameters, including socioeconomic status, race and language, and demographics and housing characteristics, varies with the type of violation. Further understanding linkages between drinking water quality violations and social vulnerability is essential for optimizing the deployment of, and motivating the next tranche of newly available drinking water infrastructure funding that is heavily prioritized toward disadvantaged communities.
Environmental News Bits 