America’s water infrastructure is facing a crisis and fixing it will be a monumental and expensive order. According to a feature article by the New York Times, two powerful industries, plastic and iron, are currently arm wrestling over the proposed $300 billion that local governments are expected to spend on water and sewer pipes over the next decade.[1]
Traditional materials like iron and steel make up almost two-thirds of existing municipal water infrastructure. However, much of this infrastructure has surpassed its useful life. By the year 2020, the average age of the 1.6 million miles of water and sewer pipes in the nation will reach 45 years. Durable but expensive, the cost of continuing to use steel or cast iron as the primary material has researchers and industry experts searching for an alternative.[2]
In an independent study conducted by Bluefield Research and reported by the New York Times, experts predict that over the next decade, as much as 80 percent of municipal investments in water infrastructure could be spent on replacing metal pipes with plastic. Industry experts cite the safety record, lightweight, easy to install, corrosion-free, and up to 50 percent cheaper than metal, as the reasons for choosing plastic as the priority material.[3]
With more than 240,000 water main breaks per year, and over two trillion gallons of drinking water lost, municipalities across the country are planning for a mass replacement of aged water mains.[4] Regardless of the choice of material, citizens and commercial businesses across all sectors should expect water utilities to raise the cost of water in an effort to pay for what has become a national crisis.
[1] Tabuchi, Hiroko. $300 Billion War Beneath the Street: Fighting to Replace America’s Water Pipes. New York Times, November 10, 2017. Web. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/climate/water-pipes-plastic-lead.html
[2] Tabuchi. $300 Billion War Beneath the Street: Fighting to Replace America’s Water Pipes. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/climate/water-pipes-plastic-lead.html
[3] Tabuchi. $300 Billion War Beneath the Street: Fighting to Replace America’s Water Pipes. https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/climate/water-pipes-plastic-lead.html
[4] American Society of Civil Engineers. 2017 Infrastructure Report Card. Web. https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/drinking-water/
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