AWWA: U.S. water infrastructure needs $1 trillion investment

   The cost of upgrading and expanding U.S. drinking water infrastructure will require an investment of $1 trillion over the next 25 years to meet expected need, according to a recent study by the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Based on an analysis of several factors, including the timing of water main installations and their life expectancy, the materials used, replacement costs, and shifting demographics, the report, titled Buried No Longer: Confronting America’s Water Infrastructure Challenge, concluded that future infrastructure needs are almost evenly divided between replacement and expansion requirements. “Because pipe assets last a long time, water systems that were built in the latter part of the 19th century and throughout much of the 20th century have, for the most part, never experienced the need for pipe replacement on a large scale,” the report says. “The dawn of an era in which the assets will need to be replaced puts a growing stress on communities that will continue to increase for decades to come.”