Water supply and sanitation in the United States
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Water supply and sanitation in the United States involves a number of issues including water scarcity, pollution, a backlog of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce. 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.[8][9] Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water.[10] As for drinking water quality, there are concerns about disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates, PFAS and pharmaceutical substances, but generally drinking water quality in the U.S. is good.
Data | |
---|---|
Access to an at least basic water source | 99.88% (2020)[1] |
Access to at least basic sanitation | 99.68% (2020)[1] |
Average urban water use (L/person/day) | 330 litres (87 US gal) in 2010[2] |
Share of household metering | very high[clarification needed] |
Annual investment in WSS | $28.5 bn or $97/capita (2005)[3][4] |
Share of self-financing by utilities | 39% (water only)[5]: 18 |
Share of tax-financing | 5% by government grants, 13% by government loans (water only, 2000)[5] |
Institutions | |
Responsibility for policy setting | State and federal |
No. of urban service providers | 4,000[6][7] |
No. of rural service providers | 50,000[6] |
Service providers | Local |
Cities, utilities, state governments and the federal government have addressed the above issues in various ways. To keep pace with demand from an increasing population, utilities traditionally have augmented supplies. However, faced with increasing costs and droughts, water conservation is beginning to receive more attention and is being supported through the federal WaterSense program. The reuse of treated wastewater for non-potable uses is also becoming increasingly common. Pollution through wastewater discharges, a major issue in the 1960s, has been brought largely under control.
Most Americans are served by publicly owned water and sewer utilities. Public water systems, which serve more than 25 customers or 15 service connections, are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state agencies under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).[11] Eleven percent of Americans receive water from private (so-called "investor-owned") utilities. In rural areas, cooperatives often provide drinking water. Finally, over 13 million households are served by their own wells.[12][13] The accessibility of water not only depends on geographical location, but on the communities that belong to those regions.[14] Of the millions who lack access to clean water, the majority are low-income minority individuals. Wastewater systems are also regulated by EPA and state governments under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Public utilities commissions or public service commissions regulate tariffs charged by private utilities. In some states they also regulate tariffs by public utilities. EPA also provides funding to utilities through state revolving funds.[15][16]
Water consumption in the United States is more than double that in Central Europe, with large variations among the states. In 2002 the average American family spent $474 on water and sewerage charges,[10] which is about the same level as in Europe. The median household spent about 1.1 percent of its income on water and sewage.[17] By 2018, 87% of the American population receives water from publicly owned water companies.[18]
In the 19th century numerous American cities were afflicted with major outbreaks of disease, including cholera in 1832, 1849 and 1866 and typhoid in 1848.[19] The fast-growing cities did not have sewers and relied on contaminated wells within the city confines for drinking water supply. In the mid-19th century many cities built centralized water supply systems. However, initially these systems provided raw river water without any treatment. Only after John Snow established the link between contaminated water and disease in 1854 and after authorities became gradually convinced of that link, water treatment plants were added and public health improved. Sewers were built since the 1850s, initially based on the erroneous belief that bad air (miasma theory) caused cholera and typhoid. It took until the 1890s for the now universally accepted germ theory of disease to prevail.
However, most wastewater was still discharged without any treatment, because wastewater was not believed to be harmful to receiving waters due to the natural dilution and self-purifying capacity of rivers, lakes and the sea. Wastewater treatment only became widespread after the introduction of federal funding in 1948 and especially after an increase in environmental consciousness and the upscaling of financing in the 1970s. From 1948 to 1987 federal funding for sanitation was provided through grants to local governments. Congress amended the CWA in 1987 and changed the funding system for sewage treatment to loans through revolving funds. Congress added a state revolving fund for drinking water utilities to the SDWA in 1996.
Piped water supply until 1948
In the 1840s and 1850s the largest cities in the U.S. built pipelines to supply drinking water from rivers or lakes. However, the drinking water was initially not treated, since the link between waterborne pathogens and diseases was not yet well known. In 1842 New York City was one of the first cities in the U.S. to tap water resources outside the city limits. It dammed the Croton River in Westchester County, New York, and built an aqueduct from the reservoir to the city.[20] Also in 1842, construction was completed on Chicago's first water works, with water mains made of cedar and a water intake located about 150 feet (46 m) into Lake Michigan.[21] In 1848, Boston began construction of a water transmission system. A tributary of the Sudbury River was impounded creating Lake Cochituate, from where the Cochituate Aqueduct transported water to the Brookline Reservoir that fed the city's distribution system.[22] In 1853, Washington, D.C., followed suit by beginning the construction of the Washington Aqueduct to provide water from the Great Falls on the Potomac River.[23]
In 1854, the British physician John Snow found that cholera was spread through contaminated water. As a result of his findings, several cities began to treat all water with sand filters and chlorine before distributing it to the public. Before efforts to clean drinking water were implemented at the turn of the 20th century, mortality among 1- to 5-year-olds in the United States in some major river cities was nearly one in five. Clean water is estimated to have reduced about three-fourths of infant mortality, and two-thirds of child mortality.[11] By 1900, sand filtration was widely used. In 1908, the first continuous application of chlorination to drinking U.S. water was in Jersey City, New Jersey (and not without controversy).[24] Cities also began to construct sewers in the late 19th century.[19] As a result of water treatment and sanitation, the incidence of cholera and typhoid rapidly decreased. Slow sand filtration was initially the technology of choice for water treatment,[24]: 2 later being gradually displaced by rapid sand filtration.[25] As a result of the water purification efforts, mortality among black infants declined in particular,[26] leading to a 13 percent reduction in the black-white infant mortality gap.[27]
In the arid American Southwest, the water demand of rapidly growing cities such as Los Angeles exceeded local water availability, requiring the construction of large pipelines to bring in water from far-away sources. The most spectacular example is the first Los Angeles Aqueduct built between 1905 and 1913 to supply water from the Owens Valley over a distance of 233 mi (375 km).
Drinking water quality standards were first issued in 1914 by the United States Public Health Service. However they were only enforceable for interstate transportation carriers (such as railroads) at specific points where water was transferred.[11]
Sanitation until 1948
Most of the first sewer systems in the United States were built as combined sewers (carrying both storm water and sewerage). They discharged into rivers, lakes and the sea without any treatment. The main reason for choosing combined sewers over separate systems (separating sanitary sewers from storm water drains) was a belief that combined sewer systems were cheaper to build than separate systems. Also, there was no European precedent for successful separate sewer systems at the time.[19] The first large-scale sewer systems in the United States were constructed in Chicago and Brooklyn in the late 1850s, followed by other major U.S. cities.[19]
Few sewage treatment facilities were constructed in the late 19th century to treat combined wastewater because of the associated difficulties. There were only 27 U.S. cities with wastewater treatment works by 1892, most of them "treating" wastewater through land application. Of these 27 cities, 26 had separate sanitary and storm water sewer systems, thus facilitating wastewater treatment, because there was no need for large capacities to accommodate wet weather flows. Furthermore, there was a belief that the diluted combined wastewater was not harmful to receiving waters, due to the natural dilution and self-purifying capacity of rivers, lakes and the sea.[19] In the early 20th century a debate evolved between those who thought it was in the best interest of public health to construct wastewater treatment facilities and those who believed building them was unnecessary. Nevertheless, many cities began to opt for separate sewer systems, creating favorable conditions for adding wastewater treatment plants in the future.[19]
Where wastewater was being treated it was typically discharged into rivers or lakes. However, in 1932, the first reclaimed water facility in the U.S. was built in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, for the reuse of treated wastewater in landscape irrigation.[citation needed]
Sanitary sewers were not the only sanitation solution applied. They were particularly useful in high-density urban areas. However, in some newly built lower-density areas, decentralized septic systems were built. They were attractive because they reduced capital expenditures and had fewer operation and maintenance costs compared to wastewater treatment plants.[19]
After 1948: Enter the federal government
In the first half of the 20th century water supply and sanitation were a local government responsibility with regulation at the state level; the federal government played almost no role in the sector at that time. This changed with the enactment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, which provided for comprehensive planning, technical services, research, and financial assistance by the federal government to state and local governments for sanitary infrastructure. The Act was amended in 1965, establishing a uniform set of water quality standards and creating a Federal Water Pollution Control Administration authorized to set standards where states failed to do so.[19]
Comprehensive federal regulations for water supply and sanitation were introduced in the 1970s, in reaction to increased public awareness of environmental degradation nationwide. In 1970 EPA was established by the Richard Nixon administration, and authority for managing various environmental programs was transferred to the new agency.[28] In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act (CWA), requiring industrial plants and municipal sewage plants to improve their waste treatment practices in order to limit the effect of contaminants on freshwater sources.[29] In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act was adopted for the regulation of public water systems. It was motivated by a resurgence in concern about the safety of drinking water due to breakthroughs in chemistry that revealed organic chemicals in water that were tentatively linked with cancer.[11] This law specified a number of contaminants that must be closely monitored and reported to residents should they exceed the maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) allowed. EPA was charged with creating standards for drinking water for all public systems, defined as those that served more than 25 customers or 15 service connections.[11] The new law required federal and state governments to closely monitor local drinking water utilities for safety and compliance with federal standards.[30] The CWA set the unprecedented goal of eliminating all water pollution by 1985 and authorized massive expenditures of $24.6 billion in research and construction grants for municipal sewage treatment. The funds initially provided an incentive to build centralized wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure for municipalities, instead of decentralized systems.[19] However, the 1977 amendments to the CWA required communities to consider alternatives to the conventional centralized sewer systems, and financial assistance was made available for such alternatives.[19] In the mid-1990s decentralized systems served approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population, and approximately 37 percent of new housing developments.[31]
The vast majority of municipal wastewater in the U.S. is treated to the national secondary treatment standard or better.[32]: 25 There have been a few disagreements between EPA and some local governments about the appropriate level of treatment, with the former arguing for more stringent standards. For example, in the late 1980s, the city of San Diego and EPA were involved in a legal dispute over the requirement to treat sewage at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant to secondary treatment standards. The city prevailed, saying that it saved ratepayers an estimated $3 billion and that process had proved successful in maintaining a healthy ocean environment. The Point Loma plant uses an advanced primary process.[33] The requirement to perform secondary treatment on wastewater before ocean discharge was waived by the EPA in 1995, "taking into account the city's unique circumstances".[34]
In 1987 Congress passed the Water Quality Act, which replaced the construction grant program with a system of subsidized loans using the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF).[35] The intention at the time was to completely phase out federal funding after a few years. Funding peaked in 1991 and continued at high levels thereafter, despite the original intentions. New challenges arose, such as the need to address combined sewer overflows for which EPA issued a policy in 1994.[36] In 1996 Congress established the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, building on the success of the CWSRF, in order to finance investments to improve compliance with more stringent drinking water quality standards.[37]
This section provides a brief overview of the water 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 water distribution system (including water towers), and 1.8 million miles of distribution lines.[5]: 14 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, over 13 million households rely on their own water sources, usually wells.[12][13]
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 publicly owned treatment works (POTW). EPA estimated that there were at least 16,583 POTWs operating in 2004, serving a population of 222.8 million.[32]: 26 About 860 communities in the U.S. have combined sewer systems, serving about 40 million people.[38] In addition, at least 17% of Americans are served by on-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks.[39]
In the United States over 75 percent of the population is served by over 16,000 municipal sewage treatment plants.[40] Most plants are required to meet national secondary treatment standards.[41][42]
Water sources
About 66% of the U.S. population (195 million people) are served by surface water systems, and 34% (101 million) are served by groundwater-supplied systems (as of 2009). Most groundwater systems are in small communities, and comprise 90% of the overall population of public water systems.[10]
For a surface water system to operate without filtration it has to fulfill certain criteria set by the EPA under its 2006 Surface Water Treatment Rule, including the implementation of a watershed control program. The water system of New York City has repeatedly fulfilled these criteria for most of the water processed through its facilities.[43]
Cities supplied primarily by surface water without filtration
Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Denver, and Portland, Oregon are among the large cities in the U.S. that do not need to treat most of 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.[44]
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 is fed by three watershed systems. The two larger systems, Catskill and Delaware, do not have filtration. The Catskill watershed is in one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the United States.[45] Water from the two systems has been treated with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation since 2013.[46][47] The Croton system, which supplies 10% of the city's water, has been filtered since 2015.[48]
San Francisco obtains 85% of its drinking water from high Sierra snowmelt through the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park.[49] 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.[50]
The largest source of water supply for Portland, Oregon, is the Bull Run Watershed.[51]
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.[52]
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. The Las Vegas Valley obtains 90% of its water from Lake Mead on the Colorado River, which has been affected by drought.[53] To supply a portion of the future water supply, Las Vegas plans to buy water rights in the Snake Valley in White Pine County, 250 mi (400 km) north of the city straddling the Utah border and other areas, pumping it to Las Vegas through a US$2 billion pipeline.[54] Phoenix draws about half of its drinking water from the Salt River–Verde River watershed, and about 40% 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,[55] with additional supplies from Lake Havasu through the Colorado River Aqueduct.[56] San Diego imports nearly 90 percent of its water from other areas, specifically northern California and the Colorado River.[57]
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.[58] Chicago is supplied by water from Lake Michigan and Detroit receives its water from the Detroit River.[59] Philadelphia receives 60% of its water from the Delaware River and 40% from the Schuylkill River.[60] Washington, D.C. receives its water from the Potomac River through the Washington Aqueduct.[61]
Cities supplied primarily by groundwater
Miami and its metropolitan area obtain 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.[62] Memphis receives its water from artesian aquifers.[63] San Antonio draws the bulk of its water from the Edwards Aquifer;[64][65] it did not use any surface water until 2006.[66]
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.[67]
Rainwater harvesting
In the United States, until 2009 in Colorado, water rights laws almost completely restricted rainwater harvesting; a property owner who captured rainwater was deemed to be stealing it from those who have the rights to take water from the watershed. Now, residential good owners who meet certain criteria may obtain a permit to install a rooftop precipitation collection system (SB 09-080).[68] Up to 10 large scale pilot studies may also be permitted (HB 09–1129).[69] The main factor in persuading the Colorado Legislature to change the law was a 2007 study that found that in an average year, 97% of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, in the southern suburbs of Denver, never reached a stream—it was used by plants or evaporated on the ground. Rainwater catchment is mandatory for new dwellings in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[70] Texas offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of rainwater harvesting equipment. Both Texas[71] and Ohio allow the practice even for potable purposes. Oklahoma passed the Water for 2060 Act in 2012, to promote pilot projects for rainwater and graywater use among other water-saving techniques.[72]
Water use
Domestic water use (also called home or residential water use) in the United States was estimated by the United States Geological Survey at 29.4 billion US gallons (111,000,000 m3) per day in 2005,[73] and 27.4 billion US gallons (104,000,000 m3) per day in 2010 (7 percent lower).[2] The bulk of domestic water is provided through public networks. 13% or 3.6 billion US gallons (14,000,000 m3) of water is self-supplied.[2] The average domestic water use per person in the U.S. was 98-US-gallon (370 L) per day in 2005,[73] and 88-US-gallon (330 L) per day in 2010.[2] This is about 2.2 times as high as in England (150 Liter)[74] and 2.6 times as high as in Germany (126 Liter).[75][76]
One of the reasons for the high domestic water use in the U.S. is the high share of outdoor water use. For example, the arid West has some of the highest per capita domestic water use, largely because of landscape irrigation. Per capita domestic water use varied from 51-US-gallon (190 L) per day in Maine to 148-US-gallon (560 L) per day in Arizona and 167-US-gallon (630 L) per day in Utah.[2] According to a 1999 study, on average all over the U.S. 58% of domestic water use is outdoors for gardening, swimming pools etc. and 42% is used indoors.[77] A 2016 update of the 1999 study measured the average quantities and percent shares of seven indoor end uses of water:[78]
- 24% toilets
- 3% baths
- 20% showers
- 17% Clothes washers
- 1% Dishwashers
- 19% Faucets
- 4% Other domestic uses.
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.[79] 74% of Americans said they bought bottled water.[79] 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.[80] This notion is also repeated among Asians.[80]
Service providers
EPA defines a public water system (PWS) as one that provides water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances to at least 15 service connections or serves an average of at least 25 people for at least 60 days a year. The agency has defined three types of PWS:
- Community Water System (CWS): a PWS that supplies water to the same population year-round.
- Non-Transient Non-Community Water System (NTNCWS): a PWS that regularly supplies water to at least 25 of the same people at least six months per year, but not year-round. Some examples are schools, factories, office buildings, and hospitals which have their own water systems.
- Transient Non-Community Water System (TNCWS): a PWS that provides water in a place such as a gas station or campground where people do not remain for long periods of time.[81]
In 2007, there were about 155,000 PWSs in the United States, of which 52,000 CWSs. PWSs are either publicly owned, cooperatives or privately owned,[6] serving a total of about 242 million people in 2000. EPA estimates the number of beneficiaries of community water systems at 288 million in 2007[6] The United States Geological Survey estimates that "About 242 million people depended on water from public suppliers" in 2000.[82] 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.[6] In 2000, 15% of Americans (43.5 million people) relied on their own water source, usually a well, for drinking water.[73][12]
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.[83][84] 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, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Denver Water. In some cases public utilities span 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[85][86]
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.[83] 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 15 million customers in 1,600 communities in the U.S. and Canada.[87] It is followed by United Water, which serves 7 million customers and is owned by the French firm Suez Environnement.[88] Overall, about 33.5 million Americans (11% of the population) get water from a privately owned drinking water utility.[83] 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.[83]
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, Dallas Water Utilities, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Seattle Public Utilities and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission. Other 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 Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago or the sewer utility in the city of Santa Clara.[89]
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.[90] 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).[91]
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.[92] (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.[93]
The environmental and drinking water quality regulation is the responsibility of state departments of health or environment and the EPA.[94]
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), protects groundwater by regulating the disposal of solid waste and hazardous waste.[95] The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as "Superfund," requires remediation of abandoned hazardous waste sites.[96]
Wastewater treatment
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state environmental agencies set wastewater standards under the Clean Water Act.[97] Point sources must obtain surface water discharge permits through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Point sources include industrial facilities, municipal governments (sewage treatment plants and storm sewer systems), other government facilities such as military bases, and some agricultural facilities, such as animal feedlots.[98] EPA sets basic national wastewater standards: The "Secondary Treatment Regulation" applies to municipal sewage treatment plants,[99] and the "Effluent guidelines" which are regulations for categories of industrial facilities.[100]
These standards are incorporated into the permits, which may include additional treatment requirements for individual plants developed on a case-by-case basis. NPDES permits must be renewed every five years.[101] EPA has authorized 47 state agencies to issue and enforce NPDES permits. EPA regional offices issue permits for the rest of the country.[102]
Wastewater discharges to groundwater are regulated by the Underground Injection Control Program (UIC) under the Safe Drinking Water Act.[103] UIC permits are issued by 34 state agencies and EPA regional offices.[104]
Financial assistance for improvements to sewage treatment facilities is available to state and local governments through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a low interest loan program.[105]
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 Society of Civil Engineers focused on advocacy for state revolving fund and water resource development legislation, 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,[106] with a focus on the U.S. and Canada, and WEF has member associations in 30 countries.[107]
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;[108]
- The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), founded in 1970, which represents the interests of wastewater utilities;[109]
- The National Rural Water Association (NRWA), founded in 1976, which represents small water and wastewater utilities;[85]
- The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), founded in 1981, which represents the interests of large publicly owned drinking water utilities.[110]
- The Water Reuse Association, founded in 2000, which promotes water reclamation, recycling, reuse and desalination.[111]
- The Water Quality Association, founded in 1974, which represents manufacturers and dealers of equipment for water treatment.[112]
In addition to lobbying, some of these trade associations also provide public education, as well as training and technical assistance to their members.[113][114]
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."[115]