Report Says Water Is Unaffordable Across Michigan

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(CBS Detroit) -- A new study is showing that water is unaffordable across Michigan.

A report from a team of researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, along with consulting firm Safe Water Engineering, found that a lack of water and affordable sewer service is a problem across the state, especially for lower-income families.

The report says that one in 10 Detroit and Flint households spend more than a quarter of their income on water services.

Additionally, the average cost of water services increased 188% in the state, 285% in Detroit and 320% in Flint since 1980, when adjusted for inflation.

Other findings include:

The cost of water service, on average, has increased at a faster rate than all other essential goods and services except for health care.
While water bills are the smallest of all essential services for vulnerable households, the percent increase is the greatest for all essential expenses (443%) and there are no federal or state programs supporting residents in paying their water bills.
Between 6.59% and 10.75% of households across Michigan struggle with water bills.
Households with private wells and septic systems, and those in mobile homes, face unanticipated and catastrophic expenses when wells and/or septics fail, providing similar economic challenges as their counterparts on public water supplies.
Addressing the Michigan water infrastructure investment gap will require $19.843 billion in the next 20 years.

The report was funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation.