SEJ
Published on SEJ (https://www.sej.org)

Home > "Almost Half A Million US Households Lack Indoor Plumbing"

"Almost Half A Million US Households Lack Indoor Plumbing" [1]

"Renters and people of color are most likely to be living without water or flushing toilets in some of America’s wealthiest cities, new research shows"

"Yan Yu Lin and her seven-year-old daughter live in a tight studio in San Francisco’s Chinatown, in a century-old building where 60 or so residents on each floor share a bathroom.

Along the back wall of the room is a plastic potty – the kind designed for toilet training toddlers. The shared bathrooms are out of order so often, so rank and unhygienic, that Lin has her daughter use the plastic potty instead. “It’s safer,” she said.

This Dickensian-sounding living situation is more common in the US than most would think."

Nina Lakhani and Maanvi Singh report for the Guardian September 27, 2021, with graphics by Rashida Kamal. [2]

Environmental Health [3]
Environmental Justice [4]
Infrastructure [5]
Water & Oceans [6]
National (U.S.) [7]
Public [8]
Source: Guardian [2], 09/28/2021
  • Contact Us  |
  • Donate  |
  • Join  |
  • Members  |
  • Privacy & Security Policies  |
  • Reach SEJ Members  |
  • Renew  |
  • Site Map
The Society of Environmental Journalists
1629 K Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 558-2055
Email: sej@sej.org
© 2025 The Society of Environmental Journalists. All Rights Reserved.
All graphics © SEJ, unless otherwise stated.

Source URL:https://www.sej.org/headlines/almost-half-million-us-households-lack-indoor-plumbing

Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/headlines/almost-half-million-us-households-lack-indoor-plumbing [2] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/27/water-almost-half-million-us-households-lack-indoor-plumbing [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [7] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [8] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81