United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4101)
EPA812-F-94-0003-6
February 1997
&EPA Fact Sheet
Drinking Water Infrastructure
Needs Survey
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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.
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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.
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