Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Clean Water Report
COPYRIGHT 2005 Business Publishers, Inc.
March 28, 2005
Volume 43; Issue 7
Clean water distribution systems suffer from disrepair, ASCE says.
(Infrastructure)
Utilities must get funding to improve water and wastewater infrastructure,
according to a report card released from the American Society of Civil Engineers
March 9.
The condition of the nation's public works infrastructure has fallen from a
grade of D in 2001 to a D- today, said ASCE President William Henry. Drinking
water, navigable water ways and wastewater are in the worst shape receiving a
D-.
"I think the time has come to call for the creation of an agenda for sustainable
infrastructure in our nation," Henry said.
The country needs $1.6 trillion in infrastructure improvements over the next
five years, the organization said.
ASCE assembled a panel of 24 civil engineers who analyzed hundreds of studies,
reports and other resources, then surveyed more than 2,000 engineers to
determine what was happening in the field. Grades were assigned on the basis of
condition and capacity, and funding versus need, generally following a grade
scale.
Every day, 6 billion gallons of clean, treated drinking water disappears from
old leaky pipes and broken water mains. Aging wastewater systems discharge
billions of gallons of untreated sewage into U.S. surface waters each year,
Henry said.
Federal Contribution Is Not Enough
Federal funding for wastewater improvements in 2005 is less than 10 percent of
the national requirement, ASCE said.
The federal government has invested more than $72 billion in the construction of
publicly owned sewage treatment works and related facilities since passage of
the Clean Water Act in 1972, ACSE claimed in Report Card for America's
Infrastructure. Nevertheless, the physical condition of many of the nation's
16,000 wastewater treatment systems is poor due to a lack of investment in
plant, equipment and capital improvements.
The volume of combined sewer overflows discharged nationwide is 850 billion
gallons per year, EPA estimated in August 2004. Sanitary sewer overflows caused
by blocked or broken pipes result in the release of as much as 10 billion
gallons of raw sewage yearly.
New solutions are needed for what amounts to nearly $1 trillion in critical
drinking water and wastewater investments over the next two decades, according
to ASCE. Without an enhanced federal role, critical investments will not occur.
The role could be in the form of grants, loans or other forms of assistance, as
long as it is flexible.
To close this gap, Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies is urging
Congress to pass a bill that would dedicate a national trust fund for water and
wastewater infrastructure needs (CWR, Feb. 28, p. 41).