Water and sanitation (wastewater) infrastructure in the United States is aging and deteriorating, with massive underinvestment over the past several decades. For many years, lack of attention to water and sanitation infrastructure has combined with racial segregation and discrimination to produce uneven access to water and wastewater services resulting in growing threats to human and environmental health. In many metropolitan areas in the U.S., those that often suffer disproportionately are residents of low-income, minority communities located in urban disadvantaged unincorporated areas on the margins of major cities. Through the process of underbounding (the selective expansion of city boundaries to exclude certain neighborhoods often based on racial demographics or economics), residents of these communities are disallowed municipal citizenship and live without piped water, sewage lines, and adequate drainage or flood control. This Perspective identifies the range of water and sanitation challenges faced by residents in these communities. We argue that future investment in water and sanitation should prioritize these communities and that interventions need to be culturally context sensitive. As such, approaches to address these problems must not only be technical but also social and give attention to the unique geographic and political setting of local infrastructures.

中文翻译：

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应对美国欠发达社区的水和卫生挑战

美国的水和卫生（废水）基础设施正在老化和恶化，过去几十年投资严重不足。多年来，对水和卫生基础设施缺乏关注，再加上种族隔离和歧视，导致水和废水服务的获取不均，从而对人类和环境健康造成越来越大的威胁。在美国的许多大都市地区，经常遭受不成比例的痛苦的是位于主要城市边缘的城市弱势非建制地区的低收入少数族裔社区的居民。通过underbounding过程（根据种族人口统计或经济，有选择地扩大城市边界以排除某些社区），这些社区的居民没有获得市政公民资格，他们的生活没有自来水、下水道和足够的排水系统或防洪设施。该观点确定了这些社区居民面临的一系列水和卫生挑战。我们认为，未来对水和卫生设施的投资应优先考虑这些社区，并且干预措施需要对文化背景敏感。因此，解决这些问题的方法不仅必须是技术性的，而且必须是社会性的，并且要注意当地基础设施的独特地理和政治环境。我们认为，未来对水和卫生设施的投资应优先考虑这些社区，并且干预措施需要对文化背景敏感。因此，解决这些问题的方法不仅必须是技术性的，而且必须是社会性的，并且要注意当地基础设施的独特地理和政治环境。我们认为，未来对水和卫生设施的投资应优先考虑这些社区，并且干预措施需要对文化背景敏感。因此，解决这些问题的方法不仅必须是技术性的，而且必须是社会性的，并且要注意当地基础设施的独特地理和政治环境。