August 7, 2007 (LPAC)-- Aging and increasingly dysfunctional sections of the United States' drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure are breaking down, disrupting entire cities, spreading diseases, and threatening the existence of provision of clean water to America. The United States would need to spend, minimally, $300 to $500 billion during the next twenty years, to overcome this crisis.

Consider the trajectory:

**In Chevy Chase, Montgomery County, Maryland, on May 29, a 12-inch water main ruptured, one of two incidents in the region that day that cut water off to 2,200 residents. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), which maintains freshwater and sewer pipes for both Montgomery and Prince George counties in Maryland, reported that during February 2007, there occurred a stunning 477 water main breaks, 16 per day. Sixty per cent of the system's 5,300 miles of pipe is 30 years or older; another 25% is 50 years or older. But with the funding spigot nearly shut, the WSSC replacement schedule would get around to replacing each mile of pipe only once in every two hundred years.

**On July 12, a 48-inch water main break in a Detroit suburban (Livonia) section of the Interstate 96 freeway, sent water gushing like a waterfall, as much as 4 feet deep, down the freeway, causing motorists to scramble onto the roofs of their cars to survive. The freeway was shut.

The United States has 54,000 community water systems, that transport fresh drinking water to citizens. In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a national survey of drinking water needs, that concluded that it would cost $151 billion over 20 years to repair, replace, and upgrade the nation's community water systems. A 2003 study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that over a 20 year period it would require between $178 billion and $331 billion in pipe replacement costs alone, not counting other capital costs like pumping stations, and operation and maintenance costs. Yet, in cities like New York, there are water mains that are more than 150 years old-- they were put in place when James Buchanan was President-- and they rupture with regularity. Several water systems, because of their decrepitude, have become transmitters of water-borne bacteria, like salmonella, which cause diseases in humans and animals.

On July 16, 2007, the United States Conference of Mayors released the results of a study conducted by the Mayors Water Council that showed that 48% of American cities are on a water and sewer pipe replacement schedule of 20 to 100 years, and between 18 and 23% of cities are on a replacement schedule that will exceed 100 years. This is a recipe for disaster.

At the same time, the nation's wastewater management system, which involves the operation of 16,000 publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), removes waste and returns clean water to America's homes, and factories. This system needs extensive replacement, and in addition, expansion to service a growing population.

The breakdown of America's water-delivery and cleansing systems will generate water shortages, disease vectors, and increasingly expensive water.