Congressional Panels Discuss Water Infrastructure
House and Senate panels in the United States met in December to examine the critical needs of the nation's aging and outdated drinking water and sewer treatment systems and pipelines, which EPA estimates need more than $635 billion in improvements.
Experts are sounding alarms that the nation's water infrastructure is in terrible shape. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that leaky pipes lose 1.7 trillion gallons of treated water each year. The American Society of Civil Engineers in 2009 graded U.S. water a D-minus.
In recent years, EPA and the Department of Justice have cracked down on more than 30 cities which have outgrown their sewer systems, forcing them into binding legal agreements to make what often amount to multimillion dollar repairs and upgrades. As a result, sewer rates are rising fast across much of the United States.