The Environmental Protection Agency has begun collecting information for a report on U.S. drinking water infrastructure needs. The report, due out in 2005, will cover community public water systems for the 20-year period from January 2003 through December 2022.
EPA will use a questionnaire to collect capital investment information from large (serving more than 50,000 people) and medium (serving more than 3,300 people) community water systems. Participation in the survey is voluntary. Data from the questionnaires will provide EPA with a basis for estimating the nationwide infrastructure needs of community water systems. Also, as mandated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA uses the results of the latest survey to allocate Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) monies to the states.
Under the allotment formula, each state receives a grant of the annual DWSRF appropriation in proportion to its share of the total national need-with the provision that each state receive at least 1% of the total funds available.
EPA estimates that the survey will involve a total cost burden to the respondents of $1,229,764 and a total hour burden to the respondents of 45,057 hours. There will be no capital, start-up or operation and maintenance costs but the collection will involve a one time response, from 3,790 respondents, of approximately 11.8 hours per respondent.
The 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey, released in early 2001, identified $150 billion in needs. Transmission and distribution projects represented the largest need, at $83.2 billion for the 20-year period. Treatment projects represented the second largest category, at $38 billion.
A similar survey on the wastewater side of the market, the Clean Water Needs Survey, is due out later this year.
