You may have seen that The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released its quadrennial “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure,” which assigns letter grades for drinking water infrastructure.

As in past years, it is not a grade that makes the folks proud. It’s a C-minus.

What does this tell us? Well, let’s first establish that the letter grades given out in the ASCE report are not terribly scientific. What they are is an indicator that the pumps, pipes and treatment plants that bring water to homes and businesses are in need of constant maintenance and expansion. And for the most part, those maintenance and expansion costs are met by everyone who pays a water bill.

The report card concludes drinking water infrastructure in the United States needs approximately $670 billion of additional investment through 2033, a hefty sum. While most of this investment will come from community water system customers, the federal government can help by providing low-interest loans through programs such as the State Drinking Water Revolving Fund and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.

The ASCE wisely recommends that U.S. Congress appropriate the maximum amount of money for these loan programs, while also developing affordability programs to ensure low-income and vulnerable communities do not bear a disproportionate burden of rate increases. It also urges targeted federal support for addressing contaminants such as PFAS, and for replacing lead lines that connect some homes to the community water system. 

With the right amount of federal assistance, hopefully we’ll see positive progress by the next ASCE report card.