The Civil Engineering Society gave the country’s drinking water infrastructure a C- rating in 2021
WASHINGTON – The Biden administration on Tuesday announced $5.8 billion in funding that will go out to every state and territory to help fix an ailing water infrastructure that continues to put millions of Americans’ health at risk.
Michael Regan, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, and Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to promote the administration’s efforts to ensure a safer drinking water system and more reliable wastewater infrastructure Projects underway in Pittsburgh - such as an effort to get rid of lead pipes - are among several across the country that are being funded through bipartisan 2021 legislation that designated $50 pillion toward improving water infrastructure.
“President Biden and I believe that every person in our country should have a right to clean water no matter where they live or how much money they make,” Harris said in a news release from the EPA. “With this investment, we are continuing our urgent work to remove every lead pipe in the country and ensure that every American has access to safe and reliable drinking water.”
The federal government won’t pick the projects funded by the investment announced Tuesday. Rather, it will funnel the money to states, territories and tribes through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs.
Last I checked, the City of Atlanta had spent $4B over the last decade or so just to fix sewage overflows from the wastewater pipes within the city limits. That’s 2/3 of the total nationwide funding spent just in one city (which is only 1/10 of its metro area, BTW), for one half of its system.
Just wanted to put in perspective how vastly underfunded our infrastructure is, even with this new money.