NATURAL RESOURCES »» WATER »» WATER TREATMENT »» Jul 17, 2023

Our nation’s water treatment plants treat sewage and wastewater for safe release, and treat drinking water to ensure it is safe for consumption. In some places these two water treatment facilities are located in proximity to one another, their efficiency clearly interdependent. There are 16,000 publicly-owned wastewater treatment plants currently serving 75% of our population – with the remaining being served by decentralized or private septic systems. Advocates claim many of these industrial-scale facilities are operating at capacity or past their expected lifespan. They say most of these plants were constructed when technology was relatively primitive, water was abundant, and people and pollution were not. It is estimated we need to spend about $1 trillion on rebuilding our water purification and wastewater treatment plants over the next 25 years in order to keep up with our needs. Advocates warn these facilities have been neglected far too long, and failure to renovate them will likely have dire effects on the safety of our water supply. Pending legislation: H.R.1729 - Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2023 Sponsor: Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ) Status: Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker. House Speaker: Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA)