Analysis of the 44 million Americans being served by water systems with recent health-based Safe Drinking Water Act violations, reveals overwhelming evidence of a clear racial divide in the provision of clean tap water in the United States.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data from 2016-2019 reveals that public water systems that constantly violate the Safe Drinking Water Act are 40 per cent more likely to serve people of color, and take longer to come back into compliance among communities of color. Not surprisingly, a new survey published by SOURCE Global PBC reveals a significant racial disparity in Americans’ trust in the quality of their domestic water supply.
According to the SOURCE Global PBC survey, 43 per cent of white Americans say that they are “very confident” in their tap water, while only 24 per cent of Black Americans, and 19 per cent of Hispanic Americans indicate the same degree of confidence. At the opposite extreme, only 10 per cent of white Americans say that they are “not confident at all” in the quality of their tap water.
Since the pandemic, a quarter of Black Americans have been drinking more bottled water in general, while fewer than 10 per cent of white Americans have changed their habits, with 62 per cent of white Americans indicating that they have not changed the way that they drink water at all.
Fifty-five per cent of Black Americans and 44 per cent of Hispanic Americans report only drinking bottled water at home, as compared to 28 per cent of white Americans who are far more likely than other groups to drink unfiltered tap water (37 per cent).
Since the pandemic, a quarter of Black Americans have been drinking more bottled water in general, while fewer than 10 per cent of white Americans have changed their habits, with 62 per cent of white Americans indicating that they have not changed the way that they drink water at all.
Fifty-five per cent of Black Americans and 44 per cent of Hispanic Americans report only drinking bottled water at home, as compared to 28 per cent of white Americans who are far more likely than other groups to drink unfiltered tap water (37 per cent).
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