![]() There's also a need to pay for and maintain an adequately functioning community water system. “And so yes, there's a human right to water. “The cost of that is astounding,” she said. To put a number on just how expensive the Phoenix water system is, Sorensen asked engineers to estimate how much it would cost to rebuild their water system from scratch, compiling the results in an informal assessment. Sorensen worked as the director for Phoenix and Mesa’s water utilities for several years. Add to that the costs that come with treating, storing and pumping water to where it needs to go. It needs to be delivered in concrete, iron or steel pipelines. Water is heavy and corrosive, which means that moving it entails a large amount of energy. Everyone wants clean water for their own families.īut delivering clean water might be one of the most expensive endeavors in human history. It would be difficult to find someone who doesn’t believe that water is a human right, according to Kathryn Sorensen, director of research at Arizona State University’s Kyl Center for Water Policy. But public water utilities, the departments run by cities and towns that provide water to most Arizonans, can disconnect water if users don’t pay their bills on time. Anyone has the right to enjoy public waters, like lakes or rivers. treats water as both a commodity and a human right in practice. Others believe the commodification of water is the most efficient way to manage a scarce natural resource. Some say that since water is a resource vital to life, it should be treated as a shared public resource and supervised by the government. Whether water is a human right that should be free for everyone or a commodity that can be bought and sold has long been a topic of debate. “Most people will try to direct you to a rural area, but there are plenty of folks that are right in the middle of the city, probably within a 5 mile distance of downtown Phoenix that lack a toilet or running water," Meehan said, "which I think is really shocking.” Katie Meehan, the lead author of the Kings College London report and an expert in water governance and environmental justice. “Even as Phoenix grows and booms and moves up the chart in terms of size and becomes like a real destination city, its level of plumbing poverty hasn't really changed in 17 years,” said Dr. They recounted stories of saving up the $15 it would cost to take a shower at a truck stop, rationing how often they used the toilet, not eating because it meant dirtying dishes that would need to be washed later, building a makeshift shower. The Arizona Republic spoke with numerous people who lacked running water. One report from Kings College London estimated that more than 6,000 households in metro Phoenix live without complete plumbing, meaning they were missing hot and cold running water, indoor shower or bathtub, flushing toilet or some combination of them.Īnd there are over 9,000 people experiencing homelessness in Maricopa County, according to a January report, and many of them don’t have regular access to running water and sanitation. Public water utilities in the metro Phoenix disconnected water service to 13,002 households from January through May for periods of time ranging from a few hours to days or longer. ![]() There isn’t comprehensive data about how many people go without water at any given time, but figures from different reports suggest the number is at least in the tens of thousands. … It was just one long stretch of being bedridden, and then this.”įrequently thought of as a rural problem, the lack of running water is an often-hidden issue for large numbers of people in urban and suburban areas of metro Phoenix. “But for this, it caught us off guard and we couldn't be prepared. ![]() Be prepared as best as one can be,’” said Wiedman, who's 31. “I’m more the ‘life’s going to happen, so wait for the other shoe to drop at any moment. ![]() Mesa had shut off his water after the landlord failed to pay the water bill for two months. In late January, when Wiedman finally felt strong enough to stand for a shower, a third whammy hit him: The tap was dry. The illnesses sapped his energy so much that, for six weeks, he could barely get off the living room couch in the two-bedroom apartment he shares with his mom in Mesa. A few days later, he developed bronchitis. Tim Wiedman caught COVID-19 last December.
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