Dean Chaussee

This partially demolished million gallon elevated storage tank had exceeded its

useful service life. Needs Survey respondents reported that elevated tanks of

this size would cost an average of $1 million.
Executive Summary

Over the past two years, the U.S.

Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) has sponsored a

national survey of drinking water

infrastructure needs. In this unprecedented study, 4,000 community water

systems documented their infrastructure improvement needs for the next

20 years.

SDWA Need

■ The current Safe Drinking Water Act

(SDWA) need totals $12.1 billion.1

Current SDWA needs are capital

costs for projects needed now to

ensure compliance with existing

SDWA regulations.

Treatment for microbiological

contaminants under the SDWA

accounts for $10.2 billion—about

84 percent of the current SDWA

need. Microbiological contaminants,

regulated under the Surface Water

Treatment Rule (SWTR) and Total

Coliform Rule (TCR), can lead to

gastrointestinal illness and, in

extreme cases, death. The SWTR

and TCR need is for construction of

new infrastructure at systems not

now in compliance and for replacement of existing infrastructure that

no longer functions adequately. In

addition to the need associated with

the SWTR and TCR, almost $0.2 billion is needed to meet standards for

nitrate, which causes acute health

effects in children, and $1.7 billion is

needed for contaminants that pose

chronic health risks.

It is important to note that the

current need attributable to the

SDWA is overstated. SDWA projects

often include components that are

not required for compliance but are

undertaken at the same time to

realize savings in design and

building costs. Another

component of the need would

exist even in the absence of the

SDWA because of State and

local requirements and

communities' efforts to provide

a consistent level of water

quality.

The nation’s 55,000 community water systems must make

significant investments to install, upgrade, or replace infrastructure to ensure the provision of safe drinking water to their

243 million customers. This first-ever national survey estimates

that these systems must invest a minimum of $138.4 billion

over the next 20 years. Of this total, $12.1 billion is needed now

to meet current Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements.

1 This figure is comparable to the capital needs

estimate from the 1993 Chafee-Lautenberg

Report to Congress.

The Drinking Water

Infrastructure Needs Survey

is intended to meet the

requirements of Sections

1452(h) and 1452(i)(4) of the

Safe Drinking Water Act.
x Executive Summary Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

degrade water quality to the extent

that problems would be detected

without the TCR.

Total Need

■ The total infrastructure investment

need is large—$138.4 billion. As

shown in Exhibit ES-1, the largest

share of the need, $58.5 billion, is for

infrastructure improvements at large

water systems. Medium and small

water systems also have substantial

needs at $41.4 billion and $37.2 billion. American Indian and Alaska

Native water systems have needs

totaling $1.3 billion. The total need

includes the SDWA need.

■ Over $76.8 billion is for infrastructure improvements that are needed

now to protect public health.

Projects for these improvements are

defined as current needs. Current

needs include projects such as

source, storage, treatment, and

water main improvements necessary

to minimize the risk of contamination of water supplies.

The remaining $61.6 billion is for

future needs, which are projects

designed to provide safe drinking

water through the year 2014. Future

needs include projects to replace

existing infrastructure. A portion of

the future need is for proposed

regulations.

The estimate of total need is

conservative. Many systems were

unable to identify all of their needs

for the full 20-year period. In some

cases, systems were not able to

provide documentation for all of

their identified needs. In addition,

the survey examined only the needs

of community water systems; noncommunity water systems, such as

■ In addition to the $12.1 billion

needed now to comply with the

SDWA, $4.2 billion will be needed

through the year 2014 for infrastructure replacement or improvement to

comply with existing SDWA

regulations.

■ Another $14.0 billion will be needed

for proposed regulations that will

protect against microbiological

contaminants and disinfection

byproducts.

■ An additional $35.7 billion is needed

for replacement of distribution

piping that poses a threat of coliform

contamination. Approximately

$22.3 billion of this total is needed

now. Distribution piping replacement is categorized as a SDWArelated need because the monitoring

required under the TCR helps to

identify problems in the distribution

system. However, these problems

would exist in the absence of TCR

monitoring and would eventually

Exhibit ES-1: Total 20-Year Need by System Size

(in billions of Jan. '95 dollars)

S d ystem Size Total Nee

Large Systems $58.5 (serving more than 50,000 people)

Medium Systems $41.4 (serving 3,301 to 50,000 people)

Small Systems $37.2 (serving 3,300 and fewer people)

American Indian and $1.3 Alaska Native Systems

T 4 otal $138.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Executive Summary xi

schools and churches with their own

water systems, were not included.

Needs associated solely with future

growth were also excluded from this

survey.

Categories of Need

■ The single largest category of need

is installation and rehabilitation of

transmission and distribution

systems. As shown in Exhibit ES-2,

the total 20-year need for this

category is $77.2 billion.

Sound transmission and distribution

systems are critical to protecting the

public from contaminants that cause

acute illness. Deteriorated distribution piping can allow water in the

distribution system to become

contaminated and can lead to

interruptions in water service.

Transmission line failure can lead to

interruptions in treatment and water

service. Most needs in this category

involve the replacement of existing

pipe. In some cases, wooden mains

that have been in service for more

than 100 years must be replaced. In

other instances, pipe that is severely

undersized, or that has exceeded its

useful service life, must be replaced.

Such pipe often leaks and is prone to

high rates of breakage, which can

lead to contamination.

■ Treatment needs constitute the

second largest category of need. The

total 20-year need for this category is

$36.2 billion.

All surface water and a significant

percentage of ground water must be

treated before it can be considered

safe to drink. Over half of all

treatment needs ($20.2 billion) are to

reduce the threat from contaminants

that can cause acute health effects.

Exhibit ES-2: Total 20-Year Need by Category

(in billions of Jan. '95 dollars)

Source 

$11.0 (8%)

Treatment 

$36.2 (26%)

Storage 

$12.1 (9%)

Other 

$1.9 (1%)

Transmission

and Distribution 

$77.2 (56%)

One in every four systems needs to

improve its treatment for these

contaminants. In addition, treatment

infrastructure must be installed,

upgraded, or replaced to improve

treatment for contaminants that pose

chronic health risks, or for contaminants that cause taste and odor or

other aesthetic problems.

■ Storage needs are the third largest

category of need. The total 20-year

need for this category is $12.1 billion.

Storage ensures the positive water

pressure necessary to prevent

contaminants from entering the

system. Storage also provides water

during periods of peak usage.

Storage facilities require periodic

rehabilitation to ensure their

structural integrity and to prevent the

entry and growth of microbiological

contaminants.
xii Executive Summary Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

The total need facing these systems is

$37.2 billion, about 27 percent of the

total national need. Exhibit ES-3 shows

per-household need by system size.

Customers of small systems face a

particularly heavy burden because

these systems lack economies of scale.

As a result, their average per-household costs are significantly higher than

those of medium and large systems.

American Indian and Alaska

Native Systems

Estimated needs for the 884 American

Indian and Alaska Native systems total

$1.3 billion over 20 years. American

Indian and Alaska Native systems have

a small total need compared to

systems regulated by the States, but

their need is significant in terms of

household cost and impact on public

health and quality of life. Per-household needs are high for the customers

of these systems — they average

$6,200 for American Indians and

$43,500 for Alaska Natives over the

20-year period covered by the survey.

More than 98 percent of American

Indian and Alaska Native water

systems are small. These systems

share challenges common to most

small systems.

American Indian and Alaska Native

systems are often located in arid

regions, where water sources are

difficult to obtain. Natural conditions

such as permafrost can make construction very expensive. Many small

systems minimize costs by joining with

other water systems. But since

American Indian and Alaska Native

water systems are often remote, this

option is rarely available to them. They

must find, treat, and distribute their

own water.

■ The fourth category of need is

source rehabilitation and development. The total 20-year need for this

category is $11.0 billion.

Source rehabilitation and development is necessary for systems to

continue to provide an adequate

quantity and quality of drinking

water.

■ An additional $1.9 billion in need is

categorized as “other.” These needs

include projects to protect water

systems against earthquake damage,

automate treatment plant operations, and improve laboratory

facilities.

Unique Needs of Small

Systems

Of the nation’s 55,000 community

water systems, approximately 46,500

are small systems which serve up to

3,300 persons each. There are small

systems in every State, and together

they serve about 10 percent of the

nation’s population.

Exhibit ES-3: Average 20-Year Per-Household Need

(Total need in Jan. '95 dollars)

Large Medium Small American

Indian

Alaska

Native

$970

$3,300

$43,500

$1,200

$6,200

Systems

Need
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Executive Summary xiii

Households Not Served by

Community Water Systems

This survey does not address the

needs of the approximately 16 million

households not served by community

water systems. Many of these households have safe sources of running

water, but an undetermined number do

not. Some households that lack safe

running water are close to existing

community water systems, and some

survey respondents estimated costs for

connecting this type of household.

Six billion dollars is a partial estimate

for providing water to households that

do not have a safe source of drinking

water. Unfortunately, connecting to an

existing community water system is

not an option for all such homes.

Further study is necessary to determine the full scope of this problem.

Methodology

The Drinking Water Infrastructure

Needs Survey was a joint effort of the

nation’s drinking water utilities, State

drinking water regulatory agencies,

representatives of American Indians

and Alaska Natives, the Indian Health

Service (IHS), and EPA. The survey

benefited from the unanimous support

of every organization representing

drinking water utilities.

The survey included community water

systems from every State, Puerto Rico,

the District of Columbia, the Virgin

Islands, American Samoa, the Northern

Mariana Islands, and Guam, as well as

American Indian and Alaska Native

systems. The survey’s scope ranged

from systems serving more than

15 million people to those serving only

25. Urban and rural water systems,

both publicly and privately owned,

were surveyed.

Of the 794 large water systems, which

serve more than 50,000 people, 784

participated through a mail survey. All

systems serving more than 110,000

people responded to the survey. Of the

6,800 medium systems serving a

population of 3,301 to 50,000, a

random sample of 2,760 systems was

drawn. Ninety-three percent of these

systems responded to the mail survey.

To ensure an accurate estimate of

infrastructure needs for the 46,500

small systems nationwide, drinking

water professionals made on-site

determinations of need for 537 systems serving 3,300 or fewer people.

The small system needs assessment

covered every State. The results of the

statistical surveys were extrapolated to

estimate needs for small and medium

community water systems. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
xiv Executive Summary Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

All 15 medium American Indian

systems responded to the questionnaire. Of the 869 small American Indian

and Alaska Native systems, needs were

assessed for 77 representative

systems. Needs for these sampled

systems, in conjunction with IHS data,

were used to derive needs for American Indian and Alaska Native systems.

EPA and State drinking water regulators thoroughly reviewed each

system’s estimates and supporting

documents to ensure the validity and

accuracy of the proposed projects and

associated costs. The most common

sources of documentation were capital

improvement plans and engineers’

estimates.

Conclusions

Community water systems need to

invest significant amounts of money in

infrastructure improvements if they are

to continue providing water that is safe

to drink. Much of the nation’s drinking

water infrastructure suffers from longterm neglect and serious deterioration.

Recent events—including waterborne

disease outbreaks and extended boilwater notices in major cities—have

focused national attention on the

dangers associated with contamination

of public water supplies. Current needs

for minimizing health threats from

microbiological contaminants—those

needs associated with the SWTR and

the TCR—are especially critical.

Water systems around the country

must make immediate investments in

infrastructure to protect public health

and ensure the availability of safe

drinking water.

Reuters

A distribution main break resulted in extensive damage to

this Brooklyn street.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Executive Summary xv Dan Fraser

This dug well is vulnerable to contamination from nearby farming

and grazing. After rainfall, water from the well is cloudy and often

contains microbiological contaminants. Water from this well must

be filtered and disinfected before it can be considered safe to drink.

The bottles contain water taken from the well after rainfall.