Clean, safe drinking water is often taken for granted. We’re afforded that convenience by a complex maze of pipes, treatment plants, pumps, and storage facilities — much of it built decades ago — is quickly approaching the end of its useful life. A new, U.S. drinking water report says maintaining the infrastructure and meeting a host of other needs will dramatically raise the cost of water service, and those costs will impact household water bills in the years ahead.

From time to time, you may see water flowing freely from a fire hydrant under the watchful supervision of a water utility professional. While it may look like water is being wasted, hydrant flushing is an important way water utilities remove stagnant or potentially contaminated water and clean pipes.