Clean and sustainable drinking water, efficient sewage infrastructure and water treatment, as well as effective stormwater systems are critical components to the health of a community. However, much of America’s water infrastructure is aging and in great need of a facelift. In fact, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently gave drinking water infrastructure a C-, stormwater a D, and wastewater a D+. There has also been a 27% increase in water main breakage in the last six years.

Several proposed policies seek to bolster federal funding for the water and wastewater sector in the U.S. A vast majority of these policies funnel more money into water infrastructure programs that already exist. The EPA has updated their Lead and Copper Rule (LCR) which now requires “more proactive planning in communities with lead service lines” and places an emphasis on identifying and replacing lead lines. The revisions also focus on strengthening treatment requirements for communities, increasing sampling, protecting children in schools, and increasing community transparency (all in relation to lead piping).

The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021, which passed with bipartisan support in the senate, would authorize $35 billion of funding into current and future federal programs to upgrade sewer and stormwater systems and eliminate lead in drinking water. In addition to that, the US Infrastructure Bill proposes $55 billion goes to water infrastructure programs and projects that “upgrade and modernize America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems, tackle new contaminants and support clean water infrastructure.”