United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water (4101) EPA812-F-94-0003-6 February 1997 &EPA Fact Sheet Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey ------- -oak IS Fact Sheet Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) first nationwide survey of drinking water systems' infrastructure needs estimates how much money drinking water systems nationwide will have to spend now and over the next 20 years. The report estimates the need for complying with current and future federal regulations, replacing aging infrastructure to protect public health, and consolidating with or acquiring neighboring systems without safe supplies of drinking water. Four thousand water systems participated in this 2-year study. Every State, the Indian Health Service (LHS), and American Indian and Alaska Native representatives participated in survey design and implementation. How Was the Survey Conducted? EPA sent questionnaires to each of the nation's 794 large systems (serving more than 50,000 people) and a random sample of 2,760 medium systems (serving 3,301 to 50,000 people). Responses were received from 94 percent of these systems. In addition, site assessments were conducted at a random sample of 537 small systems (serving 25 to 3,300 people). Needs identified on questionnaires and through site assessments were extrapolated to estimate total need by State. Information was also collected from 92 of the 884 American Indian and Alaska Native systems. This information was used along with IMS data to estimate these systems' needs. What is the Total Need? The Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey shows that the national drinking water infrastructure need is large—$138.4 billion for the twenty-year period from January 1995 through December 2014. About $76.8 billion is needed now for infrastructure improvements to protect public health. The remaining $61.6 billion is for projects designed to provide safe drinking water through the year 2014. Total 20-Year Need by Category (in billions of Jan. '95 dollars) Source $11.0(8%) Treatment $36.2 (26%) Transmission and Distribution $77.2 (56%) Storage $12.1 (9%) Other $1.9 (1 %) Over half the total need is for transmission and distribution system installation and replacement. Treatment needs constitute the second largest category of need, followed by storage and source needs. ------- How Does the Need Vary by System Size? The largest share of the need, $58.5 billion of the total, is for infrastructure improvements at large water systems. Medium and small water systems also have substantial need at $41.4 billion and $37.2 billion. Average 20-Year Per-Household Need (Total need in Jan. '95 dollars) 443.500 Although small systems have the smallest need of the three system sizes, their customers face the largest per-household need, at $3,300 per household over 20 years. Per-household costs are high for small systems because they lack economies of scale. Small systems are the least able to obtain access to outside capital to finance needed infrastructure improvements. What is the American Indian and Alaska Native Water System Need? American Indian and Alaska Native water systems have needs that total $1.3 billion over 20 years. American Indian and Alaska Native systems are primarily small systems, and they face the same problems as other small systems around the country. Also, because many of these systems are remote and because of factors such as the scarcity of high quality water supplies and arctic conditions, customers of these systems often face higher costs than customers of other small systems. Per-household costs average $6,200 for American Indian systems and $43,500 for Alaska Native systems. What is the Need to Comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act? Approximately $12.1 billion is needed now for compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Eighty-four percent of this need is to reduce risk from microbiological contaminants. Recent events, such as waterbome disease outbreaks and boil-water notices in major cities, have focused national attention on the importance of the SDWA. An additional $22.3 billion is needed now to replace distribution piping that poses a threat of coliform contamination. Distribution piping replacement is categorized as a SDWA-related need because the monitoring required under the SDWA's Total Coliform Rule (TCR) helps to identify problems in the distribution system. However, these problems would exist in the absence of TCR monitoring and would eventually degrade water quality to the extent that problems would be detected without the TCR. In addition to the $12.1 billion needed now to comply with the SDWA, $4.2 billion will be needed in the future for compliance with existing regulations. Approximately $14.0 billion will be needed to comply with proposed and recently- promulgated regulations, and $13.5 billion will be needed for future distribution repairs. Current SDWA and SDWA Related Need (in billions of Jan. '95 dollars) Mcrobiologicar $10.2 Currant SDWA Need $12.1 billion Nitrate SO 2 L»»d «M Copper »0 9 * Includes need for complying with the SWTR and TCR for replacing infrastructure. How Can I Obtain More Information? Information on the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Report to Congress is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. EPA will post the Executive Summary on the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water home page at http://www.epa.gov/OW/OGWDW. Reprints of the report are available for sale to the public through the Educational Resource Information Center at 1-800-276-0462, or through the National Technical Information Service at 1-800-553-NTIS or (703)487-4650. ------- |