The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Sustainable Water Infrastructure initiative in 2006. The initiative supports (1) adoption of state-of-the-art management approaches by utilities, (2) research and development for promising new technologies, (3) techniques to increase effectiveness and (4) reduction in drinking water distribution and wastewater conveyance system costs.
"Sustainable development" is development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Practices should be promoted that encourage utilities and their customers to address existing needs so that future generations will not be left to address the approaching wave of infrastructure needs that will result from aging infrastructure.
Sustainable practices should promote the reduction in the potential gap between funding needs and spending at the local and national level. EPA is working with the water industry to identify best practices that have helped many of the nation’s utilities address a variety of management challenges and extend the use of these practices to a greater number of utilities. EPA suggests four priority areas for the promotion of sustainable infrastructure:
- Better management of water and wastewater utilities can encompass practices like asset management, environmental management systems and capacity development. Consolidation and public/private partnerships could also offer utilities significant savings.
- Rates that reflect the full cost pricing of service and rate restructuring can help utilities capture the actual costs of operating water systems, maintaining a system, raising revenues and conserving water is absolutely essential to achieving sustainability. Drinking water and wastewater utilities must be able to price water to reflect the full costs of treatment and delivery.
- Efficient water use is critical, particularly in those parts of the country that are undergoing water shortages. We need to create market incentives to encourage more efficient use of water and to protect our sources of water.
- Watershed approaches look more broadly at water resources in a coordinated way, which is challenging because we have not traditionally thought of infrastructure management within the context of water quality protection.
A document titled "Sustaining Our Nation’s Water Infrastructure" explains these four priority areas and highlights the work being done to support this initiative. This 24-page booklet is available free to download from EPA or by request through EPA's Publication Index.
A video available online highlights how local governments are addressing aging sewer and water systems to meet current and future challenges facing our communities.
In 2002, EPA released the Clean Water and Drinking Water Gap Analysis Report. This report estimated that if investment in water and wastewater infrastructure does not increase to address anticipated needs, the funding gap over the next 20 years could grow to $122 billion for clean water capital costs and $102 billion for drinking water capital costs. The gap analysis estimated that if capital investment and operations and maintenance remained at current levels, the potential funding shortfall for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure could exceed $500 billion by 2020.
Communities must address challenges to aging infrastructure and growing populations. The problem is manageable if utilities undertake the work that needs to be done to address infrastructure and if the public understands the costs that will be needed to ensure that they have access to safe drinking water.
Drinking water treatment plants, sewer lines, drinking water distribution lines and storage facilities ensure protection of public health and the environment. Much of the drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States was built 30 years following World War II and is aging. However, it is important to note that age, in and of itself, does not necessarily point to problems. If a system is well maintained, it can operate over a long time period. Looking at pipes only, an EPA survey found that in systems that serve more than 100,000 people, about 30 percent of the pipes were between 40 and 80 years old and about 10 percent of the pipes were more than 80 years old.
Treatment plants typically have a useful life of 20 to 50 years before they require expansion or rehabilitation. Pipes have life cycles that can range from 15 to over 100 years depending on the type of material and the environment. Looking at pipe, the material used can be a greater indicator of failure than age. Steel pipes installed more than 80 years ago have proven to be much more resilient to failure than pipes made of different materials installed more recently.
If a system is well maintained, it can operate safely over a long time period. A new system that is not properly operated can threaten public health more than an older system that is properly operated. Utilities need to carry out an ongoing process of oversight, evaluation, maintenance and replacement of their assets to maximize the useful life of infrastructure.
Long-term corrosion of older mains can result in tuberculation, thereby reducing the pipe's carrying capacity. The reduction in carrying capacity requires increasing investments in power and pumping, causing a tradeoff between the reduction in hydraulic capacity and the increased operation and maintenance costs to get water from one point to another. Also, bacterial growth within tubercles may cause a potential health problem. Tuberculation also weakens the main by reducing the wall thickness.
These reductions in carrying capacity and strength can increase pumping, breakage, repair costs and the cost of water delivery. Utilities can take actions that will reduce their operating costs and thus help to close the gap.
The 2002 Paying for Sustainable Water Infrastructure Conference evolved into an Internet forum for the exchange of ideas and resources related to sustainable infrastructure and innovative ways to pay for it. Referred to as Paying for Water, the Web site should prove useful to all sectors, public and private. A discussion board continues the dialog that began at the conference.
The Financing Alternatives Comparison Tool (FACT) helps identify the most cost-effective method to fund a drinking water management project by incorporating financing, regulatory and other important costs. FACT creates a variety of useful reports to effectively communicate the results of a comprehensive analysis. This tool can also create graphical comparisons of annual and total costs of various financing options over time. FACT will help municipalities, water systems and environmental organizations select the best financing option to fund water quality and drinking water projects. To install and use ths tool, visit EPA's Web site for FACT.
View this presentation that explores basic principles of asset management.
Asset Management: A Handbook for Small Water Systems released by EPA in 2003 emphasizes asset management as a key element of small system sustainability. Worksheets help owners prepare an asset management plan.
Asset Inventory was developed by EPA in 2004 to help water systems inventory their assets. Worksheets help water system owners prepare an asset inventory, which is a first step towards developing a written asset management plan. The publication is titled "Taking Stock of Your Water System: A Simple Asset Inventory for Very Small Drinking Water Systems."
EPA's Web page titled Small System Information and Guidance provides tools, quick reference guides, handbooks and resources to help effectively manage a water system. For example, the preventive maintenance tools is divided into sections that outline and describe daily, weekly and monthly tasks.
Bridging the Gap: An Educational Primer on Sustainable Water Infrastructure Asset Management is an online video designed to help elected officials and water and wastewater managers make smart choices. The video outlines the key steps to developing an asset management plan for both novice and experienced professionals. The hosting Web site provides an online learning experience with an extensive array of reference materials to support the central concepts and real-world examples of emerging best practices and innovations in water asset management.
Environmental Management Systems and Asset Management Tools to Reduce Cost, Manage Risk, and Improve Performance. Released in May 2007, this introduction to environmental management systems and asset management shows how the two management approaches are interrelated and how systems benefit.
