Infrastructure Week is a national week of events, media coverage, and education and advocacy efforts to elevate infrastructure as a critical issue impacting all Americans. It is led by the organization “United for Infrastructure” – a diverse group of non-partisan organizations that brings together businesses, workers, elected leaders, and everyday citizens to advocate for the renewal of America’s roads, bridges, rail, ports, airports, water and sewer systems, energy grid, and more. To find out more, visit UnitedForInfrastructure.org.
Our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure is at risk. Here are the challenges we face:
- 1.7 trillion: The number of gallons of drinking water we lose every year to faulty, aging, or leaky pipes. When you add in leakage from sewer and stormwater pipes, that number rises to 6 trillion gallons.
- 237,600: The number of water main breaks every year in the US. That’s 700 a day, and almost one every two minutes.
- 47 years: The average age of our pipes. Pipes in urban centers are often older— Philadelphia’s pipes average an age of 78 years; Washington D.C.’s average 77 years; New York’s average 76 years.
- D: The grade U.S. drinking water and wastewater infrastructure receive from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
- $4.8 trillion: What we need to invest over the next twenty years to keep our water and wastewater systems in a state of good repair. Storm water systems will require an addition $298 billion over the next 20 years.
VIDEO: INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAREERS IN WATER FOR THE FUTURE
