Protecting America’s Waters:Clean and Safe Water Needs a Trust Fund

WATER

What’s Wrong with Our Pipes?

Some of our water treatment and distribution systemsdate back to the early 20th century. About 72,000 milesof our main distribution pipes are more than 80 yearsold.

In 2009, the American Society of Civil Engineersgave the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructurea D-minus rating, the lowest rating of all types of infra-structure.

As our pipes and treatment systems age, more and moresewage spills into our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans,causing serious public health hazards. For example, sew-age overflows and malfunctioning treatment plants cause beach closings across the country. The year 2007 saw 20,000 beach closings and swim advisories.

The Na-tional Research Council recently warned that we shouldexpect more water-borne disease outbreaks without “sub-stantial investments” to improve America’s water pipesand systems.

Furthermore, leaks in our aging water pipes waste watereven in parts of the country facing water shortages, likeCalifornia. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 1.7trillion gallons of water are lost from water distribution toconsumer taps — equivalent to one out of every five gal-lons of treated water.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warns that we are $22 billion short per year of the money needed tokeep water safe for human and environmental health.

How Did We Get to This Point?

For the past 20 years, federal funding for investment inour pipes and water systems has been steadily declin-ing. For example, the federal government provided morethan two-thirds of wastewater funding in 1978, but only 3 percent today.

As a result, many municipalities simply do not have the funding needed to update and maintaintheir water systems. Across the country, cash-strapped municipalities havestarted selling off their water and sewer systems to mul-tinational water companies, with hopes that they wouldmanage the systems more efficiently and finance up-grades that systems need to meet new federal regulations.Some cities have started selling off this community asset,something invested in by generations of local taxpayers,for an infusion of money to help their dwindling budgets.

ost Americans get their household water from a public utility. But municipalutilities are struggling to come up with the money needed to meet federal clean water standards and to maintain and modernize our pipes and water systems.