The United States needs to invest $202.5 billion in its wastewater
infrastructure due to aging facilities, rising water quality standards and
population growth, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently declared.
That is 8.6 percent more than the capital investment the federal agency said
was needed in 2000, according to its report to Congress, with $134.4 billion
needed for waste treatment systems, $54.8 billion for sewer overflows and $9
billion for storm water management.
Noting that wastewater treatment utilities often use bonds and loans to pay for
large projects, the report said that covering the costs will likely fall on
utilities’ customers and local governments. The environmental agency provided
an annual average of $1.3 billion in grants to states from 2000 to 2004 for
infrastructure to control wastewater. States were able to provide another $3.1
billion in funding on average each year.
The EPA is attempting to address the gap between funding and needs. The agency
suggests utilities introduce water conservation, continually improve their
facilities and rely more on rates than taxes to recover costs.
Wastewater Infrastructure Needs
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