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Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program Innovation & Research for the 21st Century
Citation:
TAFURI, A. N. AND R. I. FIELD. Aging Water Infrastructure Research Program Innovation & Research for the 21st Century. Presented at The 6th International Conference on Urban Watershed Management and Lake Eco-system Protection and Resource Utilization, Nanchang, CHINA, April 01 - 03, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
The U.S. infrastructure is critical for providing essential services: protect public health and the environment and support and sustain our economy. Significant investment in water infrastructure: over 16,000 WWTPs serving 190 million people; about 54,000 community water systems serving 264 million people; 740,000 miles gravity sewers and 16,000 miles of force mains and 1,000,000 miles water distribution lines. The national problem: some components of U.S. water infrastructure over 100 years old; up to 75,000 sanitary sewer overflows per year; up to 3,700 annual illnesses due to exposures to recreational waters contaminated by sanitary sewer overflows; 240,000 breaks in water mains per year in U.S.; main breaks increase substantially near end of service life – large Midwest utility breaks increased from 250/yr to 2200/yr over a 19-yr period (1970-1989) and in 2003, the City of Baltimore reported 1190 water main breaks…more than three/day; and USGS estimate of water lost from water distribution systems – 1 trillion gal/yr at a national cost of $1.5 billion/yr.
