Across the United States, thousands of water and wastewater professionals work every day to deliver essential and affordable services to communities of all sizes.
Yet access and affordability are not a given for all. While water is typically the lowest-priced utility, nearly 1 in 7 households in the U.S. — or 19 million — lack affordable access to water services. In 2021, Congress created the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program as a temporary, pandemic-era initiative to help eligible households manage overdue water and wastewater bills. When it expired in 2023, many Americans lost access to a key source of federal support. The end of the program did not reflect a resolution of affordability challenges — only the end of temporary relief.
The American Water Works Association and its 50,000 members actively work to ensure that essential investments in water — replacing aging infrastructure, strengthening resilience, and meeting standards that protect public health — are made in a way that balances costs with the impact on household bills. American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S. and part of AWWA’s community of water and wastewater utilities, shares this goal, serving approximately 14 million people in 14 states and on 18 military installations.
AMERICA’S AFFORDABILITY CRISIS IS A HOUSING SHORTAGE. WE CAN FIX IT IN THREE STEPS
American Water and many other AWWA utility members have implemented ongoing customer education and robust programs that provide assistance to households. These programs are impactful but need to be supported by other legislative and regulatory avenues to help address affordability. This includes advocating the re-establishment of LIHWAP, which would provide long-term, practical assistance to water and wastewater utility customers in need.
A nationwide challenge
A new AWWA study suggests drinking water bills alone will more than double between now and 2050, before inflation, driven by sorely needed infrastructure investments. A 2026 poll from the Value of Water Campaign shows the proportion of Americans who characterize their water, wastewater, and stormwater service as unaffordable has doubled in less than 10 years.
During its brief existence, LIHWAP supported more than 1.5 million households, prevented nearly 1 million disconnections of water service, restored disconnected service more than 100,000 times, and helped reduce over 1.1 million water bills. Those figures represent real families who were able to keep water flowing for bathing, cooking, sanitation, and other basic necessities. Yet, today, there is no permanent federal program dedicated to helping low-income families pay for water and wastewater services.
This stands in sharp contrast to federal energy assistance. In 2024 alone, 5.9 million households received help through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, an energy assistance program that has been available and funded federally for more than 40 years. Energy is rightly treated as an essential service worthy of federal support. But water and wastewater are equally essential, and deserve the same recognition.
Infrastructure, economic growth, and community support go hand in hand
Water bill assistance is critical to the stability of local infrastructure. When households cannot pay their bills, utilities must still operate treatment plants, maintain pipes, respond to emergencies, and invest in system upgrades. Unpaid water bills make it harder to plan responsibly and to keep rates affordable. By providing direct assistance to eligible households, LIHWAP helps stabilize water and wastewater utility revenue streams, reduces uncollected debt, and enables utilities to continue making proactive, long-term investments.
This is particularly important for smaller and more rural systems that lack the financial flexibility to create their own large-scale assistance programs. Without federal support, many utilities are forced into an untenable position — choosing between deferring critical infrastructure work or significantly raising rates.
Investment in water infrastructure delivers significant economic returns, too. Research from The Value of Water Campaign shows that every $1 million invested in water systems generates roughly $2.5 million in economic output, boosting GDP and supporting jobs across sectors.
Conversely, failing to invest carries significant costs. Without continued improvements, service disruptions and unreliable infrastructure could cost water-reliant industries an estimated $287 billion by 2043 and threaten more than 200,000 jobs. Affordability programs like LIHWAP complement those investments and ensure that as utilities modernize and strengthen critical systems, vulnerable households are not left behind.
A practical path forward
THE DEMOCRATS’ EMPTY AFFORDABILITY PROMISES
Water is fundamental to public health, economic opportunity, and quality of life. When the private and public sectors work together, we can help families afford essential services and enable utilities to continue delivering safe, clean, reliable and affordable water to our communities across the country.
As policymakers consider ways to support American households and strengthen national infrastructure, reinstating and permanently funding LIHWAP must be part of the conversation. AWWA and American Water stand ready to work with leaders in Washington and across the country to advance long-term solutions that ensure no family has to choose between paying their water bill and meeting other basic needs.
David LaFrance is CEO of American Water Works Association, whose members supply about 80% of North America’s drinking water, and John Griffith is president and CEO of American Water, the largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the U.S.