The Battle Of Aging Water Infrastructure

More investment in infrastructure and social control of the principles are going to be necessary to enhance water quality around the country. The report estimates that so as to considerably update water infrastructure across the country, as well as substituting pipes containing lead, legislature disbursement would want to extend to a minimum of $8 billion annually, up from the present $2.3 billion a year. Alternative entities have even larger estimates. The American Water

These tasks go hand and hand with the City Public Works Drainage Division which administrates permits, and is responsible for the implementation and the execution of stormwater best management practices through the use of various resources such as personnel, and medium and heavy equipment. Public Works maintains more than 350 miles of storm sewer drainage system within the City and approximately 150 miles of drainage ditches and thousands of storm water inlets. Public Works crews work continually throughout the year removing trash and debris, mowing drainage ditches, vacuuming stormwater inlets, as well as other tasks to maintain a healthy drainage infrastructure. Unfortunately, the City is faced with the challenges of sustaining its extensive MS4 program and existing drainage infrastructure due to the lack of additional financial resources. Certain sections of the City’s drainage system are more than 50 years old and deteriorating. As the City continues to grow and expand, the need for repairs, retrofitting and maintaining the City’s existing infrastructure is as equally important as creating new capital projects.

Water treatment plants typically add and remove chemicals, and change the composition of a water source in order to supply clean and safe water to its residents. Lead pipes that contain soluble forms of lead can allow lead ions to react with hydrogen ions within water, causing a dissolution reaction with allows for those lead ions to leach into the water and contaminate it as seen here with the dissolution of galena: PbS(solid) + 2H+ Pb2+(aq) + H2S(aq) The first problem that occurred with the Flint Water Supply was the fact that they did not have a plan to maintain the protective layer that builds up along the walls of lead pipes. This layer is made up of lead phosphate and lead carbonate. The previous water treatment facility that the city used added orthophosphate PO43- which is a negative ion that will bond with the positive lead ions (Pb2+) in order to form a solid chemical known as lead(II) phosphate

“Infrastructure is the four-syllable jawbreaker that governments use to describe the concrete, stone, steel, wires and wood that Americans rely on every day but barely notice until something goes awry (Kelderman).” Due to the state of the economy many lawmakers put the money need to keep infrastructure properly taken care of into things like defense. The federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which makes low interest loans to clean up or protect water supplies, has shrunk from more than $3 billion in 1990 to roughly $1 billion in 2007 (Kelderman). The report also suggests that there is an $11 billion dollar shortfall annually needed to bring facilities up to current federal water regulations. As stated in the article “ The State of the Union-Crumbling’, the nation is spending less than 40 percent of the $225 billion needed annually for the next 50 years to maintain the current system of roads, rails and bridges and build enough transportation capacity for a growing population.

In America, water is a valuable commodity use in various ways from drinking, washing, or assisting in our food production. However, the water crisis is occurring in the United States; our cities are affected by inadequate water provision due to the growth in the communities which places a demand on the water system (Sutter, 2010). Even through America water crisis exists, insufficient systems, water pollution, and economic cost can delay a solution to these problems. What is a crisis Webster Dictionary define a crisis as the point of time when it is to be determined whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate (Webster2014).

There is an estimated societal costs in the billions, lead poisoning has a inordinate impact on low income children. When it comes down to irreversible, life-altering, and contrasting effects of lead exposure, the ability to prevent the contamination is necessary to eliminate exposure. Lead was later removed from gasoline and paint in 1978 to reduce the incident of childhood lead poisoning which has decreased the likelihood of other means of lead poisoning significantly. However, lead contamination of drinking water may be increasing because of lead-contained water infrastructures, a change in water sources, and a change in water treatment. Lead being a soluble metal, seeps into drinking water through lead particles or lead plumbing that erode from aging (Hanna-Attisha, LaChance, Casey Sadler, & Champney Schnepp

The United States faces an unprecedented number of economic, demographic, fiscal, and environmental challenges that compel both the government and the private sector to rethink the way they do business. While these new forces are incredibly diverse—including everything from the shale gas revolution to renewed consumer preferences for urban living— they share one underlying need: modern, efficient, and reliable infrastructure. Tangible assets made of concrete, steel, and fiber-optic cable are essential building blocks of the American economy. Infrastructure enables global trade, powers businesses, connects workers to their jobs, creates new opportunities for struggling communities, and protects America from an unpredictable natural environment. From private investments in telecommunication systems, broadband networks, freight railroads, energy projects, and pipelines, to public investments in transportation, water, public buildings, and parks, America’s infrastructure is the backbone of a healthy national economy.

I have learned about the Portland’s water system in the first of a few weeks. I have learned the Portland’s water resources, water quality management, history of water system, water transportation system, and water issues in Portland area. Now, I compare Portland’s water system to another city in the United States. I pick up Seattle’s water system because I lived in Seattle for two years before I move to Portland, and I’m interested in the Seattle’s water system. In this journal, I write about the following sections: History of Seattle’s water system, water resources, water quality management, water transportation, water issues in Seattle, and conclusion (similarities and differences between Seattle’s water system and Portland’s water system).

Community water systems deliver water to consumers through one million miles of pipes across the United States. Many of those pipes were laid in the early to middle of 20th century with a lifespan of 75 to 100 years. Every day, nearly six billion gallons of treated drinking water are lost due to leaking pipes, with the estimated 240,000 water main breaks occurring each year. The leaky, aging pipes are wasting 14 to 18% of each day’s treated water; the amount of clean drinking water lost every day could support 15 million households (ASCE 2017 Infrastructure Report Card). But the leak of the water is not the most concern. Homes built before 1986 are more likely to have lead pipes, fixtures and solder. Treated water running through the lead pipes get contaminated, even though it has left water treatment plant in safely drinkable

The world has made great technological leaps at the start of the 21st century. One of them being, the “Toilet to Tap project” where we are starting to purify and reuse sewer water for drinking purposes. However, it is hard for some people to wrap their head around the fact that the water they’re drinking, was water that they once showered in. By 2023, the recycling of sewer water will soon be a regular part of a lot of people's lives, whether they like it or not.

In 2013 there was an estimate of 853,000 deaths due to lead exposure due to extended health effects. The most affected was from low and middle-income individuals globally. Lead has also attributed to about 9 percent of worldwide of idiopathic intellectual disability, 4 percent of ischemic heart diseases and also 7 percent of stroke (WHO, 2016). Lead has be a plague to our water system for years, yet we struggle to find a solution to have safe water for

The transportation system sectors are responsible for transporting their customers and good within and outside the United States safely. The last of the 16 critical infrastructures is the water and wastewater systems sector. This sector is responsible for providing safe drinking and bathing water to the economy. They treat and purify the water getting rid of bacteria for safe drinking and also prevent disease (Lewis, 2006). Each one of the 16-critical infrastructure is very important to the economy/environment. Each one of them play an essential role in attending to the need of our economy. Their destruction of these critical infrastructure would have a negative impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety,

In the United States, utility systems (water and electric), highways, and bridges are in critical shape due to poor maintenance, adverse weather conditions, needed technological upgrades, and a lack of financial security. There is no doubt that our country is in an emergent state of need for improvements to its infrastructure. The systems in place that were only dated to last fifty to one hundred years, have been failing for the last forty years. With the amount of money that has already been invested, and the amount of time and manpower, the United States is still fighting a losing battle to revive the utilities, highways and bridges that are crumbling before our eyes.

The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector is a very important critical infrastructure sector because it provides one of the key elements that we need to survive, which is drinking water. Besides drinking water, the Water and Waste Water Systems Sector is also responsible for ensuring that wastewater is properly disposed and treated to prevent diseases or environmental contamination before it is used again (Department of Homeland Security & Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector is a critical infrastructure sector that is relevant to all communities across the United States since there exist some sort of Water and Wastewater Systems Sector critical infrastructure within each community that is either privately

The city consists of approximately 1,000 miles of piping; the average age of these sewers is about 72 years, with 173 miles of piping being more than 100 years old. According to Construction & Capital Programs Communication Manager, Maureen Barry, the central issue focuses on the fact that “water conservation due to the drought lessens the volumes of wastewater flow that moves organic matter through our system.” The system is heavily reliant on gravity in combination with a certain amount of storm water from local neighborhoods to flush out and drain the waste entering into the system and reduce overall odor from the matter that isn’t flushed into the sewer’s