According to a national study released by the public interest group Food and Water Watch, Flint residents paid the highest water rates in America, even as their water was tainted with lead. A survey last year of the 500 largest water systems in the country found that, on average, Flint residents paid about $864 a year for water service, which is nearly double the national average and about three-and-a-half times as much as Detroiters pay. The high rates were a reason Flint joined the new Karegnondi Water Authority, which was pitched as a means to control rate increases.
