The Pandemic’s Unequal Impact on North Carolina Water Utilities and Their Customers A new report depicts the financial challenges of providing water service in unprecedented times. The pandemic has resulted in a range of experiences for water utilities in North Carolina and their customers. Photo by Fran Jacquier on Unsplash By Brett Walton, Circle of Blue Early last summer, when economists feared that the financial consequences of the pandemic could be nearly as severe as the Great Depression, Sharen Apple received a phone call offering help. Apple is the accounting manager for Jamestown, a community of just over 4,000 people in Guilford County, North Carolina. The caller, from Summit Church, said that church members wanted to do a good deed: they wanted to pay off the debts of residents who had fallen behind on their water bills.