As urban and suburban populations grow, they are taxing our aging water and sewage systems. Many communities have considered infrastructure renewal programs that would replace existing water systems with new and more efficient technologies, but upgrades are expensive and the federal government has been steadily decreasing funding for such projects. Because of infrastructure limitations, water shortages, and a continually increasing population, the effects of rising water costs are being felt more and more. Businesses and institutions realize higher operating expenses due to increased water and sewer rates. These increased expenses often must be passed on to consumers or taxpayers.
Communities are hard-pressed to find acceptable, economic solutions.
Thus, consumers and taxpayers are left to pay for the new systems. True water conservation management is a broad problem for communities seeking to balance development with protection of its natural resources. It is also a business problem for commercial, industrial, and institutional concerns, for which water and sewage costs have bloated operating budgets. One emerging solution for businesses is water conservation management, which seeks to use water only where it is needed and only in the amount necessary. Many of us are barely conscious of our own or other people's water use habits.