Page 7 - Aruba Today
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Monday 28 September 2015
US drinking water imperiled by failing infrastructure
RYAN J. FOLEY This Wednesday, July 15, 2015 photo shows tanks in the Nitrate Removal Facility at the Des Moines Utilities have long struggled
Associated Press Water Works plant in Des Moines, Iowa. The biggest challenge for the utility has been levels of to predict when to replace
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — nitrate that are far above the federal standard for safety in the two rivers that are its source water. pipes, which have vastly dif-
Deep inside a 70-year-old The utility and scientists argue that the nitrates are largely the result of farm runoff that is tainted ferent life cycles depend-
water-treatment plant, with fertilizer and manure. ing on the materials they
drinking water for Iowa’s are made from and where
capital city is cleansed of (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) they are buried. Experts say
harmful nitrates that come a peak of up to 20,000 miles
from the state’s famously challenge is deepened by ten go unnoticed until they more equipment failures (32,000 kilometers) of pipe
rich farmland. fail. But without big chang- that will disrupt water ser- will need to be replaced
Without Des Moines Water drought conditions in some es in national policy, lo- vice, transportation and annually beginning around
Works, the central Iowa re- cal governments and their commerce. 2035, up from roughly 5,000
gion of 500,000 people that regions and government ratepayers will be largely More than a million miles miles (8,000 kilometers) cur-
it serves wouldn’t have a on their own in paying for (1.6 million kilometers) of rently. Each mile can cost
thriving economy. But after mandates to remove more the upgrades. The amount underground pipes dis- $500,000 or more.
decades of ceaseless ser- of federal money available tribute water to American The impacts are playing
vice, the utility is confront- contaminants. is a drop in the bucket. That homes, and maintaining out across the U.S. The
ing an array of problems: will mean rising water rates that network remains the Philadelphia water depart-
Water mains are cracking At stake is the continued for customers, a trend that largest and costliest long- ment, the nation’s oldest,
open hundreds of times expected to continue for term concern. is already spending tens of
every year. Rivers that pro- availability of clean, cheap years. As they get older, they fail millions of dollars more per
vide its source water are “That’s the key that Ameri- in different ways. Some split year to replace its worst
increasingly polluted. And drinking water — a public cans have to understand: If and rupture, with an es- pipes. Yet the city saw more
the city doesn’t know how they want this system, they timated 700 main breaks than 900 water main breaks
it will afford a $150 million health achievement that are going to have to be occurring around the U.S. in the most recent budget
treatment plant at a time willing to finance it,” said every day. The most dev- year. In June, two massive
when revenues are down has fueled the nation’s Greg DiLoreto, past presi- astating failures damage breaks forced evacuations
and maintenance costs dent of the American Soci- roadways, close business- and damaged cars, homes
are up. growth for generations. ety of Civil Engineers, which es and shut off service for and businesses.
“We’re reaching the end has warned of a future with hours or days. The massive main break
of the life cycle of some “The future is getting a little that flooded the UCLA
of the most critical assets campus in Los Angeles in
we’ve got,” said Bill Stowe, dark for something as ba- 2014 was widely seen as a
CEO and general manag- wakeup call for failing infra-
er of the utility, where the sic and fundamental as structure.
downtown plant was built Pipes aren’t the only com-
long before nitrates that water,” said Adam Krantz ponents in need of big in-
can harm infants became vestments. Many treatment
a pressing concern. of the Water Infrastructure plants are old and need to
Around the U.S., scores of be replaced or rebuilt at
decaying drinking water Network, a lobbying group a cost of tens of millions of
systems built around the dollars even in small cities.
time of World War II and that is fighting cuts to key New valves to control wa-
earlier are in need of re- ter flow, new pumping sta-
placement. The costs to federal water programs. tions to keep up pressure
rebuild will be stagger- and new tanks to store wa-
ing. The costs of inaction Unlike pothole-scarred ter are also needed.q
are already piling up. The
roads or crumbling bridges,
decaying water systems of-
