If America’s water infrastructure was a carton of milk in your fridge, you would have thrown it away a long time ago. If it was a student, it would be getting barely passing grades. So what’s gone wrong?
Impeller spoke with Joe Vesey, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Xylem, to learn about the problem and how it can be fixed. “A lot of America’s water infrastructure was constructed over 100 years ago,” Vesey says. “Installations peaked between 1925 to 1940. Most of that infrastructure has a useful life of 50 to 75 years, so on average we are well past that.”
This outdated infrastructure results in a lot of leaks. Some experts estimate that more than two trillion gallons of treated water is lost every year in the US due to leaks and breaks in water mains. Water utilities, already struggling with limited budgets, are spending money to treat water that is never used or paid for. “I have a lot of respect for our customers and the work that they do in their communities,” Vesey says. “They have a fairly small budget given their challenges, yet they are able to use their older asset base […]
Full article: Why it’s time to rebuild America’s water infrastructure
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