United States: Water and Sanitation | ||
---|---|---|
Data | ||
Average urban water use (liter/capita/day) | 608 in 1996-1998 [1] | |
Average water and sanitation bill | $474/year (US$40/month) in 2002 [2] | |
Share of household metering | very high | |
Annual investment in water supply and sanitation | $60/capita/year (early 1990s) [3] | |
Share of self-financing by utilities | High | |
Share of tax-financing | Less than 10% (2008) | |
Institutions | ||
Service provision | Local | |
Policy and regulation | State and Federal | |
Number of urban service providers | 4,000 | |
Number of rural service providers | 50,000 |
Water supply and sanitation in the United States are delivered by a wide variety of service providers. Most Americans are served by publicly owned utilities or directly by municipalities. Eleven percent of Americans receive water from private (so-called “investor-owned”) utilities. In rural areas, cooperatives often provide drinking water. Finally, up to 15 percent of Americans are served by their own wells.[4][5]
In terms of water sources, 34 percent of public water systems are supplied with groundwater, while 66 percent are supplied with surface water.[6] Drinking water quality is generally good, although there are some concerns about disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates and pharmaceutical substances. Increased variability and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change is expected to produce both more severe droughts and flooding, with potentially serious consequences for water supply and for pollution from combined sewer overflows.[7][8]
Water supply and wastewater systems are regulated by state governments and the federal government. At the state level, health and environmental regulation is entrusted to the corresponding state-level departments. Public Utilities Commissions or Public Service Commissions regulate tariffs charged by private utilities and, in some states, also those charged by public utilities. At the federal level, drinking water quality and wastewater discharges are regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which also provides funding to utilities through State Revolving Funds.[9][10][11]
Water consumption in the United States is more than double that in Central Europe, with large variations among States. In 2002 the average American family spent $474 on water and sewerage charges,[2] which is about the same level as in Europe. The median household spent about 1.1 percent of its income on water and sewerage.[12]
Technical and environmental overview
This section provides a brief overview of the ater supply and sanitation infrastructure in the U.S., water sources of some of the main cities, and the main types of residential water use.
Infrastructure
The centralized drinking water supply infrastructure in the United States consists of dams and reservoirs, well fields, pumping stations, aqueducts for the transport of large quantities of water over long distances, water treatment plants, reservoirs in the distribution system (including water towers), and 880,000 miles of distribution lines.[13] Depending on the location and quality of the water source, all or some of these elements may be present in a particular water supply system. In addition to this infrastructure for centralized network distribution, 14.5% of Americans rely on their own water sources, usually wells.
The centralized sanitation infrastructure in the U.S. consists of 1.2 million miles of sewers - including both sanitary sewers and combined sewers - , sewage pumping stations and 16,024 publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants.[14][13] In addition, at least 17% of Americans are served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks.[15]
Publicly owned wastewater treatment plants serve 189.7m people and treat 32.1bn gallons per day. 9,388 facilities provide secondary treatment, 4,428 facilities provide advanced treatment, and 2,032 facilities do not discharge. There are 176 facilities that provide a treatment level that is less than secondary. These include facilities with ocean discharge waivers, and treatment facilities discharging to other facilities meeting secondary treatment or better. 880 facilities receive flows from combined sewer systems.[14] About 772 communities in the U.S. have combined sewer systems, serving about 40 million people.[16]
Water sources
About 90% of public water systems in the U.S. obtain their water from groundwater. However, since systems served by groundwater tend to be much smaller than systems served by surface water, only 34% of Americans (101 million) are supplied with treated groundwater, while 66% (195 million) are supplied with surface water.[6]
Cities supplied primarily by surface water without water treatment. Boston, New York City, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon are among the large cities in the U.S. that do not need to treat their surface water sources beyond disinfection, because their water sources are located in the upper reaches of protected watersheds and thus are naturally very pure.[17] Boston receives most of its water from the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs and the Ware River in central and western Massachusetts. New York City's water supply, for example, is fed by a 2,000-square-mile (5,200 km2) watershed in the Catskill Mountains. The watershed is in one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the United States.[18] San Francisco obtains most of its drinking water from high Sierra snowmelt through the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. However, to supplement the imported water supply, and to help maintain delivery of drinking water in the event of a major earthquake, drought or decline in the snowpack, San Francisco considers the use of alternative locally produced, sustainable water sources such as reclaimed water for irrigation, local groundwater and desalination during drought periods, all as part of its Water Supply Diversification Program.[19] The largest source of water supply for Portland, Oregon, is the Bull Run Watershed.[20]
Cities supplied primarily by surface water with water treatment. Cities that rely on more or less polluted surface water from the lower reaches of rivers have to rely on extensive and costly water purification plants. Las Vegas, Nevada, obtains 90% of its water from Lake Mead on the Colorado River, which has been affected by droughts.[21] To supply the rapidly growing city with water it plans to buy water rights in the Snake Valley in White Pine County, 250 miles north of the city straddling the Utah border, and pump it to Las Vegas through a US$2 billion pipeline.[22] Phoenix also obtains its drinking water primarily from the Colorado River further downstream at Lake Havasu through the Central Arizona Project. Los Angeles obtains about half of its drinking water from the Owens River and Mono Lake through the Los Angeles Aqueduct,[23] with additional supplies from Lake Havasu through the Colorado River Aqueduct.[24]
Denver receives its water almost entirely from mountain snowmelt in a number of highly protected watersheds in more than 9 counties. Its water is stored in 14 reservoirs, the largest of which is the Dillon Reservoir on the Blue River in the Colorado River. Water is diverted from there through the Harold D. Roberts Tunnel under the Continental Divide into the South Platte River Basin. [25]
The cities on the Mississippi River are supplied by water from that river except for Memphis. The metropolitan area of Atlanta receives 70% of its water from the Chattahoochee River and another 28% from the Etowah, Flint, Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers.[26] Chicago is supplied by water from Lake Michigan and Detroit receives its water from the Detroit River.[27] Washington, DC receives 75% of its water from the Potomac River through the Washington Aqueduct.[28]
Cities supplied primarily by groundwater. The South Florida metropolitan area including Miami obtains its drinking water primarily from the Biscayne Aquifer. Given increasing water demand, Miami-Dade County is considering the use of reclaimed water to help preserve the Biscayne Aquifer.[29] Memphis receives its water from artesian aquifers.[30]
Cities supplied by a mix of groundwater and surface water. Seventy-one percent of Houston's supply flows from the Trinity River into Lake Livingston, and from the San Jacinto River into Lake Conroe and Lake Houston. Deep underground wells drilled into the Evangeline and Chicot aquifers provide the other 29 percent of the city’s water supply.[31]
Water use
Public water supply used 43 billion gallons (163 million m3) per day in 2000, or 21% of total water use in the same year.[32] [33] Residential (home) water use accounts for more than half of publicly supplied water in the United States,[34] with the remainder being used by offices, public buildings, businesses and industry that does not have its own water sources. Residential end use of water in the United States is equivalent to more than 1 billion glasses of tap water per day. Total water use was 161 gallon (608 liter) per capita per day in 1996-1998, excluding leakage. Fifty-eight percent is used outdoors for gardening, swimming pools etc., corresponding to 101 gallon (382 liter) per capita per day, and 42% is used indoors, corresponding to 60 gallon (226 liter).[1] The arid West has some of the highest per capita residential water use because of landscape irrigation.[34] Indoor use falls into the following categories:
- body cleanliness:
- washing:
- 25% Clothes Washers
- 2% Dishwashers
- 18% Faucets
- 3% Other Domestic Uses[1]
Per capita residential water use in the United States is more than three times as high as in France(165 liter/capita/day or l/c/d)[35], four times as high as in England(150 l/c/d)[36] and five times as high as in Germany(126 l/c/d).[37]
Only a very small share of public water supply is used for drinking. According to one 2002 survey of 1,000 households, an estimated 56% of Americans drank water straight from the tap and an additional 37% drank tap water after filtering it. 74% of Americans said they bought bottled water.[38] According to a non-representative survey conducted among 216 parents (173 Latinos and 43 non-Latinos), 63 (29%) never drank tap water. The share is much higher among Latinos (34%) than among non-Latinos (12%). The study concluded that many Latino families avoid drinking tap water because they fear it causes illness, resulting in greater cost for the purchase of bottled and filtered water.[39]
Institutional overview
Service providers
In 2007 there were about 52,000 community public water systems in the United States, which are either publicly owned, cooperatives or privately owned,[40] serving a total of about 242 million people in 2000.[41] Four thousand systems provide water in localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants, and the remaining 50,000 systems provide water in localities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.[40] In 2000 15% of Americans (43.5 million people) relied on their own water source, usually a well, for drinking water.[42][33]
Utilities in charge of public water supply and sanitation systems can be owned, financed, operated and maintained by a public entity, a private company or both can share responsibilities through a public-private partnership. Utilities can either be in charge of only water supply and/or sanitation, or they can also be in charge of providing other services, in particular electricity and gas. In the latter case they are called multi-utilities. Bulk water suppliers are entities that manage large aqueducts and sell either treated or untreated water to various users, including utilities.
Public service providers. Eighty-nine percent of Americans served by a public water system are served by a public or cooperative entity. Some public systems are managed directly by a city or country department. Usually public systems are managed by utilities) that are owned by a city or county, but have a separate legal personality, management and finances. Examples are the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power or Denver Water. In some cases public utilities form a special-purpose district that spans several jurisdictions. An example is the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission that spans two counties in Maryland. Utility cooperatives are a major provider of water services, especially in small towns and rural areas[43][44]
Private utilities. About half of American drinking water utilities, or about 26,700, are privately owned, providing water to 11% of Americans served by public water systems. Most of the private utilities are small, but a few are large and are traded on the stock exchange. The largest private water company in the U.S. is American Water, which serves 16 million customers in 32 states and Canada. It is followed by United Water, which serves 7 million customers and is onwed by the French firm SUEZ. Overall, about 33.5 million Americans (11% of the population) get water from a privately owned drinking water utility.[45] In addition, 20% of all wastewater utilities in the U.S. are privately owned, many of them relatively small. About 3% of Americans get wastewater service from private wastewater utilities. In addition, more than 1,300 government entities (typically municipalities) contract with private companies to provide water and/or wastewater services.[45]
Multi-utilities. Some utilities in the U.S. provide only water and/or sewer services, while others are multi-utilities that also provide power and gas services. Examples of utilities that provide only water and sewer services are the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, the Chicago Water and Sewer Department, Dallas Water Utilities, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Seattle Public Utilities and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Others utilities, such as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, provide power in addition to water and sewer services. Other multi-utilities provide power and water services, but no sewer services, such as the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Orlando Utilities Commission. There are also some utilities that provide only sewer services, such as the sewer utility in the city of Santa Clara.[46]
Bulk water suppliers. There are also a few large bulk water suppliers in the arid Southwest of the United States, which sell water to utilities. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) sells treated water from the Colorado River and Northern California to its member utilities in Southern California through the California Aqueduct. Twenty-six cities and water districts serving 18 million people are members of MWD. The Central Arizona Water Conservation district supplies water from the Colorado River to 80 municipal, industrial, agricultural and Indian customers in Central and Southern Arizona through the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct (CAP).[47]
Regulators
The economic regulation of water and sanitation service providers in the U.S. (in particular in relation to the setting of user water rates) is usually the responsibility of regulators such as Public Utility Commissions at the state level, which are organized in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.[48] (see economic regulator). However, while all investor-owned utilities are subject to tariff regulation, only few public utilities are subjected to the same regulation. In fact, only 12 states have laws restricting pricing practices by public water and sanitation utilities.[49]
The environmental and drinking water quality regulation is the responsibility of state departments of health or environment and the EPA.[50]
Other stakeholders
There are a number of Professional associations, trade associations and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are actively engaged in water supply and sanitation.
Professional associations include the American Water Works Association (AWWA) oriented mainly towards drinking water professionals and the Water Environment Federation (WEF) geared mainly at wastewater professionals. The geographical scope of both is greater than the U.S.: AWWA has members in 100 countries,[51] with a focus on the U.S. and Canada, and WEF has member associations in 30 countries.[52]
There are a number of trade associations in the sector, including:
- The National Association of Water Companies (NAWC), founded in 1895, which represents the interests of small and large private water and wastewater utilities;[53]
- The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), founded in 1970, which represents the interests of wastewater utilities;[54]
- The National Rural Water Association (NRWA), founded in 1976, which represents small water and wastewater utilities;[43]
- The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), founded in 1981, which represents the interests of large publicly owned drinking water utilities.[55]
- The Water Reuse Association, founded in 2000, which promotes water reclamation, recycling, reuse and desalination.[56]
- The Water Quality Association represents manufacturers and dealers of equipment for water treatment.[57]
In addition to lobbying, some of these trade associations also provide public education, as well as training and technical assistance to their members.[58][59]
An example of an NGO active in water supply and sanitation is Food & Water Watch, a consumer rights group created in 2005 which focuses on corporate and government accountability relating to food, water, and fishing. Another example is the Alliance for Water Efficiency (AWE), which was created in 2007 with seed funding from the EPA to “advocate for water efficiency research, evaluation, and education” at the national level. Its Board members “represent water utilities, environmental organizations, plumbing and appliance associations, irrigation manufacturers, the academic community, government, and others.”[60]
Issues
Among the main issues facing water users and the water industry in the U.S. in 2009 are water scarcity and adaptation to climate change; concerns about combined sewer overflows and drinking water quality; as well as concerns about a gap between investment needs and actual investments. Other issues are concerns about a swiftly-retiring workforce, the affordability of water bills for the poor during a recession, and water fluoridation, which is opposed by some mainly on ethical and safety grounds.
Water scarcity and climate change
With water use in the United States increasing every year, many regions are starting to feel the pressure. At least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013, even under non-drought conditions.[34]
According to the National Academies, climate change affects water supply in the U.S. in the following ways:
- Rising water demands. Hotter summers mean thirstier people and plants. In addition, more evaporation from reservoirs and irrigated farmland will lead to faster depletion of water supplies.
- Increased drought. Scientific evidence suggests that rising temperatures in the southwestern United States will reduce river flows and contribute to an increased severity, frequency, and duration of droughts.
- Seasonal supply reductions. Many utilities depend on winter snowpack to store water and then gradually release it through snowmelt during spring and summer. Warmer temperatures will accelerate snowmelt, causing the bulk of the runoff to occur earlier and potentially increasing water storage needs in these areas.[8]
Pollution
Sewer overflows. Combined sewer overflows (CSO) and sanitary sewer overflows affect the quality of water in rivers many parts of the U.S. About 772 communities have combined sewer systems, serving about 40 million people, mostly in the Northeast, the Great Lakes Region and the Pacific Northwest.[61] CSO discharges during heavy storms can cause serious water pollution. A 2004 EPA report to Congress estimated that there are 9,348 CSOs in the U.S., discharging about 850 million gallons of untreated wastewater and storm water to the environment. EPA estimates that between 23,000 and 75,000 sanitary sewer overflows occur each year, resulting in releases of between 3 and 10 billion gallons of untreated wastewater.[62]
The increased frequency and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change [7] [63] will result in additional water pollution from wastewater treatment, storage, and conveyance systems."[63] For the most part, wastewater treatment plants and combined sewer overflow control programs have been designed on the basis of the historic hydrologic record, taking no account of prospective changes in flow conditions due to climate change.[63]
Drinking water quality. There are several aspects of drinking water quality that are of some concern in the United States, including Cryptosporidium,[64] disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates and pharmaceutical substances. However, in almost all cases drinking water quality is in conformity with the norms of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which sets Maximum Contaminant Levels for pollutants. In addition, the EPA's Consumer Confidence Rule of 1998 requires most public water suppliers to provide consumer confidence reports, also known as annual water quality reports, to their customers.[65] According to the EPA, each year by July 1st anyone connected to a public water system should receive in the mail an annual water quality report that tells where water in a specific locality comes from and what's in it. Consumers can find out about these local reports on a map provided by EPA.[66] 29% of Americans are reading their water quality reports. Customers are generally satisfied with the information they are receiving from their water companies and their local or state environmental offices.[38]
Investment gap
In its Infrastructure Report Card the American Society of Civil Engineers gave both the U.S. drinking water and wastewater infrastructure a grade of D- in 2005, down from D in 2001. According to the report, "the nation's drinking water system faces a staggering public investment need to replace aging facilities, comply with safe drinking water regulations and meet future needs."[67] Investment needs are about $19 billion/year for sanitation and $14 billion/year for drinking water, totaling $33 billion/year.[68] State and local governments invested $28.5 billion in water supply and sanitation in 2005, split roughly half and half between water and sanitation.[69][70] This implies an investment gap of $4.5 billion/year. If tariff revenues remain constant in real terms, utilities face a funding gap of the same magnitude. However, the funding gap would disappear if municipalities increased water and sanitation spending at a real rate of growth of three percent per year.[68]
Concerning drinking water supply the EPA estimated in 2003 that $276.8 billion would have to be invested between 2003 and 2023.[71][72] Concerning sanitation, the EPA estimated in 2007 that investment of $202.5 billion is needed over the next 20 years to control wastewater pollution. This includes $134 billion for wastewater treatment and collection, $54.8 billion for resolving unsatisfactory combined sewer overflows and $9 billion for stormwater management.[73] The EPA needs surveys do not capture all investment needs, in particular concerning capital replacement.[68]
Pricing and affordability
The median household in the U.S. spent about 1.1% of its income on water and sewerage in 2002. However, poor households face a different situation: In 1997 18% of U.S. households, many of them poor, paid more than 4% of their income on their water and sewer bill.[74]
On average U.S. water tariffs are $2.50 per 1,000 gallons ($0.66 per cubic meter),[75] with significant variations between localities. Annual combined water and sewer bills vary between $228 in Chicago and $1,476 in Atlanta in 2008.[76] In 2002 the average water and sewer bill was $474.[6] This was about the same level as in England in 2008.[77]
Retiring workforce
The water community in the US is faced with a swiftly-retiring workforce and a tightening market place for new workers. In 2008, approximately one third of executives and managers were expected to retire in the following five years.[78] Water and sanitation utilities in the United States had 41,922 employees in 2002.[79]
Fluoridation
Water fluoridation, the controlled addition of moderate concentrations of fluoride to a public water supply to reduce tooth decay, is used for about two-thirds of the U.S. population on public water systems.[80] Almost all major public health and dental organizations support water fluoridation, or consider it safe.[81] Nevertheless it is contentious for ethical, safety, and efficacy reasons.[82]
Responses to address issues
Supply-side management
Historically the predominant response to increasing water demand in the U.S. has been to tap into ever more distant sources of conventional water supply, in particular rivers. Because of environmental concerns and limitations in the availability of water resources, including droughts that may be due to climate change, this approach now is in many cases not feasible any more. Still, supply-side management is often being pursued tapping into non-conventional water resources, in particular seawater desalination in coastal areas with high population growth. California alone had plans to build 21 desalination plants in 2006 with a total capacity of 450 million gallons per day (1.7 bn m3/day), which would represent a massive 70-fold increase over current seawater desalination capacity in the state.[83] In 2007 the largest desalination plant in the United States is the one at Tampa Bay, Florida, which began desalinating 25 million gallons (95,000 m³) of water per day in December 2007.[84]
In 2005 over 2,000 desalination plants with a capacity of more than 100m3/day had been installed or contracted in every state in the U.S. with a total capacity of more than 6 million m3/day. Only 7% of that capacity was for seawater desalination, while 51% used brackish water and 26% used river water as water source.[85] The contracted capacity corresponds to 2.4% of total municipal and industrial water use in the country in 2000.[32] The actual share of desalinated water is lower, because some of the contracted capacity was never built or never operated, was closed down or is not operated at full capacity.[85]
Demand-side management
Demand-side management, including the reduction of leakage in the distribution network and water conservation, are other options that are being considered and, in some cases, also applied to address water scarcity. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the WaterSense program to encourage water efficiency through the use of a special label on consumer products in 2006.[86]
A particular problem is that low water tariffs and inappropriate tariff structures due not encourage water conservation. For example, decreasing-block rates, under which the unit rate decreases with consumption, offer hardly any incentive for water conservation. In 1992 about 37% of water tariffs in the U.S.were linear (i.e. the unit tariff is independent of the level of consumption), 18% were increasing-block tariffs (the unit rate increases with consumption) and 45% were decreasing-block tariffs. [49]
Water reuse
Reuse of reclaimed water is an increasingly common response to water scarcity in many parts of the United States. Reclaimed water is being reused directly for various non-potable uses in the United States, including urban landscape irrigation of parks, school yards, highway medians and golf courses; fire protection; commercial uses such as vehicle washing; industrial reuse such as cooling water, boiler water and process water; environmental and recreational uses such as the creation or restoration of wetlands; as well as agricultural irrigation.[87] In some cases, such as in Irvine Ranch Water District in Orange County it is also used for flushing toilets.[88] It was estimated that in 2002 a total of 1.7 billion gallons (6.4 million m3) per day, or almost 3% of public water supply, were being directly reused. California reused 0.6 and Florida 0.5 billion gallons per day respectively. Twenty-five states had regulations regarding the use of reclaimed water in 2002.[87] Planned direct reuse of reclaimed water was initiated in 1932 with the construction of a reclaimed water facility at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Reclaimed water is typically distributed with a color-coded dual piping network that keeps reclaimed water pipes completely separate from potable water pipes.[89]
Pollution control
Numerous efforts have been undertaken in the United States to control the pollution of water resources and to make drinking water safe. The most comprehensive federal regulations and standards for the water treatment industry were implemented in the 1970s, in reaction to a huge increase in environmental concerns in the country. In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, with the unprecedented goal of eliminating all water pollution by 1985 and authorized expenditures of $24.6 billion in research and construction grants.[90] In 1974, Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act, specifying a number of contaminants that had to be closely monitored and reported to residents should they exceed the maximum contaminant levels.[91] Both Acts were complemented by substantial federal grant funding to improve infrastructure in the form of construction grants.
In 1987 Congress, through the Water Quality Act, passed an amendment of the Clean Water Act, abolishing construction grants and replacing them by a system of subsidized loans using the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The intention at the time was to completely phase out federal funding after a few years. Funding for the CWSRF peaked in 1991 and continued at high levels thereafter, despite the original intentions.[92] New challenges arose, such as the need to address combined sewer overflows for which EPA issued a policy in 1994. In 1997 Congress established the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, in order to finance investments to improve compliance with more stringent drinking water quality standards.
Today cities make significant investments in the control of combined sewer overflows, including through the construction of storage facilities in the sewerage system in order to allow for the subsequent controlled release of sewage into treatment plants.
Federal assistance
One way to address the funding needs of utilities to respond to the various challenges they face without increasing the burden of water bills on users is federal financial assistance.
Centralized water and sanitation infrastructure is typically financed through utilities’ own revenue or debt. Debt can be in the form of soft loans from State Revolving Funds (SRF), credits from commercial Banks or – in the case of large utilities - from bonds issued directly in the capital market. Although federal funding for the main of the two SRFs has declined in real terms by 70% between its peak in 1991 and 2006, SRFs play an important role in financing water and sanitation investments.[93][94] [95] There are two SRFs: The larger Clean Water State Revolving Fund, created in 1987,[96][97][98] and the smaller Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, created in 1997.[99] They receive federal and state contributions and issue bonds. In turn, they provide soft loans to utilities in their respective states, with average interest rates at 2% for up to 20 years in the case of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. In addition to the SRFs, the United States Department of Agriculture provides grants, loans and loan guarantees for water supply and sanitation in small communities (those with less than 10,000 inhabitants), together with technical assistance and training.[100]
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 17, 2009, provides $4 billion for the Clean Water SRF, $2bn for the Drinking Water SRF and, among others, $126 million for water recycling projects through the United States Bureau of Reclamation.[101]
This exceeds previous levels of financing such, since Congress approved only US$1.5 billion of federal funding for State Revolving Funds in 2008. This was much below the historical average of US$3 billion/year for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (1987-2006)[102][103] and US$ 1.2 billion/year for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (1997-2005).[104] The share of federal funding for sanitation has declined from almost 50% in the early 1980s to about 20% in the early 1990s.[105]
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(help) - ^ Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Management Strategy, National Research Council (2000). Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply: Assessing the New York City Strategy. The National Academies Press. ISBN 0309067774.
- ^ "2005 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report". City of New York Department of Environmental Protection. Retrieved 2006-07-19.
- ^ Kehoe, Paula. "San Francisco's Water Supply". San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Portland Water Bureau. "The Bull Run Watershed". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ "Lake Mead Water Could Dry Up by 2021". Environment News Service. 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
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(help) - ^ ABC News (April 5, 2007). "Water Wars: Quenching Las Vegas' Thirst". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. "Los Angeles Aqueduct". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "California's Colorado River Alloaction". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ Denver Water (September 11, 2008). "Denver Water: An Overview". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District. "Water Supply Basics. Where Does Our Water Come from and How Do We Use It?". Retrieved 02-23-09.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ City of Chicago: Department of Water Management. "Water Treatment". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. "Washington Aqueduct". Retrieved 3-04-09.
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(help) - ^ Miami-Dade County. "Reclaimed Water". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ The University of Memphis, Groundwater Institute. [2] No date. History of the Memphis Water, accessed on 2-27-09
- ^ City of Houston - Department of Public Works and Engineering - Public Utilities Division. "Drinking Water Operations". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ a b U.S. Census Bureau: Table 354. U.S. Water Withdrawals Per Day by End Use: 1940 to 2000, accessed on 3-03-2009. According to that source total municipal and industrial water use in 2000 was 66 billion gallons per day, or 250 million m3/day.
- ^ a b United States Geological Survey (2005). "Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000: Domestic Supply". Retrieved 3-04-09.
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(help). Other major water uses in the U.S. are irrigation and industries. - ^ a b c Environmental Protection Agency: WaterSense. "Water Supply and Use in the United States". Retrieved 02-26-09.
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(help) - ^ Water supply in France (in French), quoting 2004 figures from the French statistical institute IFEN
- ^ Environment Agency. "Household water use in England and Wales, 1992 to 2007". Retrieved 02-23-0.
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(help) - ^ a b U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Analysis and Findings of The Gallup Organization’s Drinking Water Customer Satisfaction Survey, August 6, 2003, accessed on March 22, 2009
- ^ Hobson WL, Knochel ML, Byington CL, Young PC, Hoff CJ, Buchi KF (2007). "Bottled, filtered, and tap water use in Latino and non-Latino children". Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 161 (5): 457–61. doi:10.1001/archpedi.161.5.457. PMID 17485621.
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(help) - ^ The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the number of beneficiaries of community water systems at 288 million in 2007, source: Environmental Protection Agency. "FACTOIDS: Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help). The United States Geological Survey estimates that "About 242 million people depended on water from public suppliers" in 2000, source: United States Geological Survey (2005). "Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000: Public Suppl". Retrieved 3-04-09.{{cite web}}
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(help). The EPA figures is more recent, while the USGS data are more consistent, because they show both the number of people connected to public systems and those self-supplied, with both figures adding up to the total population of the U.S. - ^ Environmental Protection Agency (2002). "Drinking Water from Household Wells". Retrieved 02-28-09.
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(help) - ^ a b National Rural Water Association (NRWA). "Official website". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ "Connecting Rural America". 2002. Retrieved 02-23-2009.
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(help) - ^ a b National Association of Water Companies. "Private Water Service Providers: Quick Facts". Retrieved 2-28-09.
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(help) and Congressional Budget Office (November 2002). "Future Investment in Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure" (pdf). Retrieved 03-23-09.{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ City of Santa Clara. "Sewer Utility". Retrieved 3-06-08.
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(help) - ^ Central Arizona Project. "About Us". Retrieved 03-23-09.
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(help) - ^ National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. "About NARUC". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ a b Prof. Dale Whittington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Prof. John Boland, The Johns Hopkins University, April 3, 2001, Reflections on Water Pricing and Tariff Design, accessed on 3-04-09.
- ^ Water Information Center. "Drinking Water Basics". Retrieved 03-23-09.
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(help) - ^ American Water Works Association (March 2006). "AWWA's story". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ Water Environment Federation. "Member associations". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ National Association of Water Companies. "About NAWC". Retrieved 2-26-09.
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(help) - ^ National Association of Clean Water Agencies. "About NACWA". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) National Association of Clean Water Agencies, Accessed on 02-23-2009. - ^ Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA). "About AMWA". Retrieved 02-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Water Reuse Association. "About the Water Reuse Association". Retrieved 03-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Environmental Expert. "Water Quality Association". Retrieved 03-23-09.
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(help) - ^ National Rural Water Association (2008). "About NRWA". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ National Association of Clean Water Agencies. "Water & Wastewater Leadership Center". Retrieved 03-04-09.
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(help) - ^ Alliance for Water Efficiency. "Welcome Letter from Chair of the Board". Retrieved 03-23-09.
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(help) - ^ Environmental Protection Agency:"Combined Sewer Overflows: Demographics." Accessed 2009-01-11.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Report to Congress on Impacts and Control of Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary Sewer Overflows, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ a b c American Metropolitan Water Association. 2007. Implications of Climate Change for Urban Water Utilities - Highlights, accessed on 2-26-09.
- ^ Virginia Department of Health:Cryptosporidiosis and Drinking Water
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Consumer Confidence Reports, , Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Consumer Confidence Reports:Where you live, , Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ American Society of Civil Engineers, Infrastructure Report Card: America's Crumbling Infrastructure Eroding Qaulity of Life, March 9, 2005, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ a b c Environmental Protection Agency:The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis, 2002, Executive Summary, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau. Statistical Abstract of the United States. 2009. State and Local Governments:Expenditures for Public Works 1005-2005, accessed on 2-26-09.
- ^ Calculated from US Census Bureau. 2006. Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances 2005-2006, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Executive Summary of the Third Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey, p. 5, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency:Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, Accessed on 02-23-2009, and Water 21, February 2008, p. 4.
- ^ Water Infrastructure Network. 2000. Water Infrastructure Network:Clean & Safe Water for the 21st Century, accessed on 3-08-2009.
- ^ Elizabeth Royte:Bottlemania, 2008, p. 219.
- ^ Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department:Rate Comparison, Accessed on 02-23-2009. Bills have been converted from monthly to annual values.
- ^ According to OFWAT. 2008. Water industry facts and figures, accessed on 4-03-2009, the average household bill in 2008-09 for water and sewerage in England and Wales was £330, corresponding to $466 at the exchange rate of 1 Pound Sterling = US$1.4138, [3]
- ^ Gary Zimmerman, Executive Director of AWWA in the IWA 2008 Yearbook, p. 34.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau: Water, sewage and other systems, Accessed on 02-23-2009.
- ^ Ripa LW (1993). "A half-century of community water fluoridation in the United States: review and commentary" (PDF). Journal of Public Health Dentistry. 53 (1): 17–44. PMID 8474047. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ Armfield JM (2007). "When public action undermines public health: a critical examination of antifluoridationist literature". Aust New Zealand Health Policy. 4: 25. doi:10.1186/1743-8462-4-25. PMC 2222595. PMID 18067684.
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- ^ Pacific Institute [4]. 2006. California Needs to Move Cautiously on Desalination. Economic, Environmental, and Social Costs Still Outweigh Technological Gains, accessed on 3-02-09
- ^ Applause, At Last, For Desalination Plant, The Tampa Tribune, December 22, 2007
- ^ a b The World's Water 2006-2007:The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources, Peter H. Gleick, Heather Cooley, David Katz, Emily Lee, Jason Morrison, 2006, ISBN 1597261068, 9781597261067, p.58-59, accessed on 3-03-2009
- ^ 2006 | WaterSense | US EPA
- ^ a b Mark W. LeChevallier, Ph.D.�, Director, Innovation & Environmental Stewardship, American Water:[http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/LeChevallier%20NARUC%20Reuse%20Presentation.ppt Overview of Water Reuse Technology:� Pricing Considerations Related �To Reclaimed Water], no date, accessed on 3-03-2009
- ^ Irvine Ranch Water District [5], Water Reclamation, accessed on 3-03-2009
- ^ Rules and Regulations for Reclaimed Water. City of San Diego..
- ^ Steven J. Burian (2000). "Urban Wastewater Management in the United States:Past, Present, and Future" (PDF). Journal of Urban Technology, Volume 7, Number 3, pages 33-62. Retrieved 03-23-09.
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- ^ Food and Water Watch:The Clean Water State Revolving Fund, accessed on 03-23-09
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External links
- Environmental Protection Agency Drinking Water Page - EPA
- EPA Wastewater Permit Program - NPDES
- American Water Works Association (AWWA), the association of water supply professionals in the U.S. and Canada - AWWA
- Water Environment Federation (WEF), an association of professionals working on wastewater treatment and water quality protection - WEF
- Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the association of the largest publicly owned drinking water systems in the U.S. AMWA
- National Association of Clean Water Agencies - NACWA
- National Association of Water Companies - NAWC
- National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) - NARUC
- The United States Conference of Mayors - Urban Water
- Water Infrastructure Network
- List of and Links to State Public Utility/Service Commissions List of State Commissions at NARUC
- Americans for Pure Water:Water News Update
- Water and Sewer Distributors of America
- Documentary film:Liquid assets - the story of our water infrastructure
- The National Academies' Water Information Center:Drinking Water Basics