This article addresses the often-overlooked disparities in WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services within high-income countries (HICs). While global efforts predominantly focus on low- and middle-income countries, this piece emphasizes that significant inequities persist in HICs, particularly among marginalized groups such as Indigenous populations, rural communities, and the homeless. These disparities are attributed to systemic issues, including inadequate infrastructure, policy neglect, and socio-economic barriers. The article calls for a reevaluation of assumptions regarding universal WASH access in affluent nations and advocates for targeted research, policy reforms, and inclusive practices to ensure equitable access for all.
Author(s): Underhill, Helen; Sylvester, Ruth; Meehan, Katie
Published: 2025
Language: English
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Additional Information
In recent years, several research communities have turned their focus onto the matter of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in high-income countries. Growing attention has shown that WASH problems in these settings are far more common than we often assume. The timing of this Special Issue reflects this renewed interest in ‘WASH in high-income countries’. Our agenda establishes the importance of this field in its own right and acknowledges how it is catalysing discourse on the inherited practices and ideological roots of global WASH. As a recent field of study, WASH in high-income countries sits at the confluence of several strands of transdisciplinary inquiry and praxis. In this introductory essay, we explore key terminology and trace the intellectual origins of this field. We then go on to present the 11 papers collected in this Special Issue. They demonstrate an array of approaches to uncovering and tackling WASH inequities, coming together to spark novel insights and provocations. Four common threads tie the papers together: issues of (1) (in)visibility, (2) (mis)trust, (3) power and control, and (4) the re-imagination of WASH practice. To conclude, we offer a series of provocations for researchers, with a view to implementing the changes called for in this collection. The mid-2020s are a time of critical juncture, as we hurtle towards Sustainable Development Goal 6, and normative concepts of ‘universal’ or ‘safely managed’ services are interrogated for underdelivering. Leaving no one behind requires confronting the power and politics at the heart of all global and local inequities, and WASH is no exception.