Cooper, Michael: In aging water systems, bigger threats are seen

The National section of the Sunday New York Times featured an article on the state of the nation's water infrastructure. The article spotlighted the wooden water mains of Chelan, Washington, material used in water systems of Alaska, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and elsewhere, according to the author. The Environmental Protection Agency's Aging Water Infrastructure Research program pegged the number of breaks per year at 240,000 in the United States. The age and state of these systems "offer a vivid reminder of the age and fragility of the nation's drinking-water systems" (p. 12).

The consequences of a decrepit water network include bursting pipes, main breaks, wasted drinking water in the millions of gallons, and flooded roads. The by-line of the article estimated the amount of money required to remedy and repair the problem, $334 billion--the amount estimated by the EPA for transmission and distribution systems. Because the federal stimulus bill specifically allocated money for such projects, the author cited it as a source of funds for these projects.

The prevalence of the problem prompted the American Water Works Association to cite the current period as "the dawn of the replacement era" (p. 12). Because cities with the oldest infrastructure, in some instances, have declining and poorer populations, the costs of repair
would necessitate "higher-than-average water-rate increases on the residents who remain" (p. 12), resulting in financial hardship.

Assessing the durability of water pipes, the author reiterated the finding of the American Water Works Association that "newer is not necessarily better" (p. 123). The older, cast iron pipes of the 1800s "have an average useful life of about 120 years. For cast-iron pipes installed in the 1920s, that drops to about 100 years. And pipes put in after World War II have an average life of only about 75 years" (p. 12). All will require repair in the immediate future.

Cooper, M. (April 19, 2009). The New York Times.