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January 23, 2007

Rusty Pipes said to be the Biggest Threat to U.S. Drinking Water

According to Timothy Ford, a microbiologist and water research scientist with Montana State University, rusting water infrastructure is the biggest threat to the public drinking water supply in the U.S. As Ford said, "If you clean up water and then put it into a dirty pipe, there's not much point."

Before water ends up in your glass, it often passes though pipes laid under city streets 50 or a much as 100 years ago. These pipes were made of iron, until plastic was introduced 30 years ago.

"Investigations conducted in the last five years suggest that a substantial proportion of waterborne disease outbreaks, both microbial and chemical, is attributable to problems within distribution systems," the National Research Council said in a study for the Environmental Protection Agency released in December.

"We estimate in the next 20 to 30 years water utilities will have to invest $250 to $350 billion just to replace the pipes that are in the ground today," said Jack Hossbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association, the industry's trade group.

"We committed 100 years ago to build a reliable, low-cost, high-quality municipal drinking water systems. But there are no guarantees that will continue," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a research group in Oakland, California, as reported by Reuters.

Posted by Stephen Betheil at January 23, 2007 05:30 PM

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Posted by: Linda S at April 27, 2007 08:57 AM

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