According to EPA $384 billion is needed in the next 20 years for the repair of about 1 million water pipelines in the US that reaching the end of life.
The aging water infrastructure in the country has now become one of the nation’s dilemmas. With an increasing number of populations in the US, keeping the water supply at pace is crucial.
The American Water Works Association pointed out that in order to maintain the level of water supply and services, repairing the existing aging water infrastructure might cause more over in the next 25 years of estimated rehabilitation period.
Along with this is the great challenge of finding the necessary funds to address this.
The impacts of this aging water infrastructure in the US are not only pointed out to the US government but more importantly to the public.
The possible water supply outage in an extended period of time would mean trouble to every household that solely depends on their water consumption from the main water sources.
The possibility that water bill will go up is another thing that every household and commercial establishments will face when all these rehabilitation and repairs will be implemented.
A survey showed that most Americans pay less than $3.75 per 1000 gallons of water.
This amount is expected to increase and in some areas might even be tripled when water utilities will have been repaired or renewed.
In order to maintain that level of water service to the entire nation, there is an urgent need of finding the right financing option as soon as possible.
As the water infrastructure ages and deteriorates, the cost of repairs and rehabilitation also increases. This will have economic implications for local and national government.
Also, imagine the effects of the dysfunctional water system on the lifestyle and livelihood of the community.
It would also be necessary that the public is made aware and updated about the process and its impact on the main water supply.
Since they are the ones that will be affected greatly and to avoid too many hassles, letting them know of the actual situation is crucial.
Communication plays an important part in educating the people.
There will be no time for delays, or it may be too late. The public deserves clean, continuous and affordable water supply service.
This may never happen unless the US government through its water utilities infrastructure management experts and authority agencies will make an aggressive move.
The aging water systems in the US clearly need an abrupt solution.
To work on these issues, there is a need for infrastructure asset management professionals to create a comprehensive asset management plan.
Repairs, renewals or maintenance of water infrastructure will be done in reference to that asset management plan that local and national infrastructure management practitioners have made.
Having a comprehensive asset management plan means you will have an updated inventory of water infrastructure. Knowing its condition and location will enable infrastructure authorities to come up with efficient prioritization plan for repairs, renewals, and financial allocations.
The asset management plan would become the US authorities’ in coping with aging water infrastructure and in implementing a sustainable utility infrastructure management.