water, says Vanessa M. Leiby, executive director of
the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, Leesburg, Virginia, USA. “The
Flint crisis is driving conversations about drinking
water infrastructure to new levels,” she says.
With no upsurge in federal funding in sight, however, some local governments are turning to public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a solution. They’re
also turning to skilled project managers to ensure the
scant funding is spent wisely and efficiently.
New Funding Streams
Although the U.S. Congress passed the Water
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act
(WIFIA) in 2014 to help municipalities finance
Unclogging the Pipeline
The United States has a US$1 trillion pipeline
problem. Built about a century ago, most of the
country’s drinking water infrastructure is in desperate need of upgrades. Just to maintain the current level of drinking water service, the country
will need to spend US$1 trillion over the next 25
years, according to estimates from the American Water Works Association. That cost doesn’t
include necessary projects to build new water
treatment systems to combat drought and other
water scarcity issues.
The huge funding gap for infrastructure projects
has gained more attention recently. This is largely
due to the public health crisis associated with
high lead levels in Flint, Michigan, USA’s drinking
Concerns over lead in the public water
in Flint, Michigan, USA have made
international headlines.
theEdge
