Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
A federal-state partnership providing financial support to water systems and state
drinking water programs
PROTECTING AMERICA'S PUBLIC HEALTH
The Nation's public water systems make significant
investments to install, upgrade, or replace
infrastructure to ensure the provision of safe drinking
water to nearly 300 million customers. Building new
treatment facilities can improve the quality of
drinking water by improving compliance with
national primary drinking water standards and
protecting public health. Improvements are also
needed to help water systems ensure that
distribution and transmission systems can reliably
deliver safe water to homes, schools, and
businesses. Water systems can protect their
infrastructure investments cost-effectively through
sustainable water system management.
THE DWSRF
The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water
Act (SDWA) created the Drinking Water State
Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to help communities
finance infrastructure improvements that are needed
to protect public health and ensure compliance with
drinking water standards. Each of the 50 states and
Puerto Rico operates its own DWSRF program. They
receive annual capitalization grants from the EPA,
which provide low-interest loans and other types of
assistance to public water systems. The DWSRF
programs are managed or co-managed by state
agencies that oversee drinking water systems and
therefore can effectively prioritize infrastructure
needs for funding. The EPA oversees each state's
DWSRF program.
office of ground water
• AND drinking water

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EPA OGWDW | Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
EPA 816-F-1:8-001 September 2018
DETERMINING FUNDING PRIORITIES
States develop a priority ranking system for
projects based on three criteria from the SDWA.
States then offer financial assistance to water
systems based on the ranking order of their
projects. Priority is given to those eligible projects
that:
1)	address the most serious risk to human
health;
2)	are necessary to ensure compliance with
the requirements of the Safe Drinking
Water Act; and,
3)	assist systems most in need, on a per
household basis, according to State-
determined affordability criteria.
ELIGIBLE SYSTEMS AND PROJECTS
Both publicly and privately-owned community water
systems and nonprofit non-community water
systems are eligible for funding under the DWSRF
program. Eligible projects include the installation,
upgrade, or replacement of treatment facilities,
finished water storage facilities, and transmission
and distribution systems. Other projects, such as
water system consolidation, may also be eligible.
Eligibility guidelines are posted at:
DWSRF Eligibility Handbook:
https://www.epa.aov/drinkinqwatersrf/dwsrf-
eliaibilities
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TYPES
•	Planning and design loans
•	Construction loans at or below market
interest rate terms. Loans are typically 20-
year terms for most communities (up to 30
years for disadvantaged communities) and may
be offered with principal forgiveness or
negative interest rates.
•	Purchasing or refinancing debt
obligations
•	Insurance or guarantee for local debt
SET-ASIDES
Not all drinking water compliance problems can be
solved through infrastructure improvements. With
that in mind, Congress gave states the option to take
a portion of their federal capitalization grants as "set-
asides." Set-asides can be used to administer state
drinking water programs, provide technical
assistance and training for water systems, and fund
other activities that support achieving the public
health protection objectives of the SDWA. The
programs and activities supported by set-asides
include DWSRF administration, water system
capacity development, operator certification, small
system technical assistance, source water
protection, and support for the state Public Water
System Supervision (PWSS) program. Each state has
the flexibility to determine the appropriate balance
between water infrastructure projects and set-asides
for its specific circumstances.
Over the DWSRF's first 20 years,
states funded nearly 14,000 projects
worth over $35 billion.
APPLYING FOR FUNDING
Water systems receive DWSRF assistance directly
from state agencies. Each state has its own
application procedure. Contact information for each
state is posted at https://www.eDa.aov/
drinkinawatersrf/state-dwsrf-website-and-contacts.
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For more information, visit: epa.gov/drinkiriqwatersrf

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