Key findings: the Guardian's water poverty investigation in 12 US cities

For many Americans across the US, water bills are becoming unaffordable. That poses a threat to health, housing and families

Water is essential to life. Yet running water is becoming unaffordable across the US, in cities large and small. Water bills weigh heavily on many Americans as utilities hike up prices to pay for environmental clean-ups, infrastructure upgrades and climate emergency defenses to deal with floods and droughts. Federal funding for America's ageing water system has plummeted, and as a result a growing number of households are unable to afford to pay their bills; millions of homes are being disconnected or put into foreclosure every year.

As we've seen during the coronavirus pandemic, unaffordable water poses a threat to individual and public health, housing and families. It also poses a threat to water quality: if people can't afford to pay their bills, utility companies can't raise the money needed for clean-ups.