Where's The Money To Fix Our Water Woes?

Thousands of Water Professionals Say Financing For Capital Improvements Is Their Top Challenge In 2025.

Photo by Roger Starnes Sr on Unsplash

More than 2 million miles of underground pipes and almost 150,000 public water systems across the country.

That’s our water infrastructure.

As you can imagine, it takes a lot of money and resources to maintain those systems.

Last week, the American Water Works Association (AWWA) released its 2025 State of the Water Industry Report, revealing that finances are the top concern among water sector professionals and specifically, concerns about financing for capital improvements. AWWA is the largest nonprofit, scientific, and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water.

Capital improvements account for any and all projects that include the purchase, construction, or rehabilitation of capital assets. An asset is any piece of equipment or part of the facility. Examples include pipes, valves, tanks, pumps, wells, hydrants, and any other components that make up the system.

These assets generally lose value over time, as the system ages and deteriorates. As a system ages, it can become more difficult to deliver quality service.

“The cost of providing water service is rising, as the compounding needs to replace aging pipes collides with investments required to meet new regulatory requirements,” AWWA CEO David LaFrance said in a statement.

The association’s report is based on insights from more than 3,500 water professionals and provides a comprehensive look at the most pressing challenges and priorities facing the North American water sector.

Utilities of all sizes are struggling to secure funding for essential upgrades and new treatment technologies, according to the report, with only 41 percent of those surveyed saying they feel “very or fully able” to cover costs through rates and fees.

Let’s talk more about how water utilities get the money to operate and maintain water infrastructure.

Water utilities charge rates to users to help cover operating expenses, including treatment plants, underground pipes, water storage, and the workforce that operates and maintains the system.

Those rates are not enough, even as water bills continue to swell.

Research shows that between 2012 and 2023, monthly household water bills increased by roughly 64 percent, at an average of $51, mostly due to increased labor costs and pressure from inflation.

Two cities showing the largest rate increases from 2022–2023 were El Paso, Texas, and San Jose, California.

Last year, the AWWA annual report showed that while almost half of water utilities reported an increase in per-account water sales, only 20 percent of those utilities reported being able to cover the cost of drinking water services.

On top of these funding issues, aging water infrastructure across the country is posing major challenges.

Shannon Marquez, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, discussed these issues last year in an interview with PBS about aging infrastructure.

“Well, in fact, if you think about what it's going to take to overhaul these systems, the amount of finance, the reality is that water utilities are faced with just being able to do what they can, patch the holes as they come, patch the main breaks as they come, and there's not enough resources,” she said.

A water main breaks in this country about every two minutes, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

Today (June 11, 2025), there’s a water main break affecting hundreds in West El Paso.

“Crews were able to isolate the water line and began digging into the street to get to the water line to start repairs as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for El Paso Water told a local news station.

Patch, patch, patch.

In 2023, residents of San Jose started noticing a shift in their water saying it looked cloudy and had a metallic taste.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District cited the changes were due to maintenance at the Santa Teresa water treatment plant.

“We're also doing some infrastructure work with our pipelines that deliver the water to our retailers,” Matt Keller with the water district told local news. “That means there may be a source change of water for some of our retailers.”

Editor’s note: Anyone from San Jose want to comment below about how the water looks and tastes today?

Smaller utilities often face more vexing challenges than larger utilities, according to the 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure from ASCE. Smaller, disadvantaged communities usually face water rates that exceed levels considered affordable because there is such a small base of ratepayers, whereas larger systems can spread costs over a larger population and provide lower costs per customer.

Failing Florida Water System

Consider Apalachicola, Florida, a small port town on Florida’s Northwest Coast with a population of nearly 2,500 people.

Krystal, a concerned mom and resident, recently reached out.

“We are currently experiencing what feels like the early stages of another Flint,” she wrote.

For years, she described, the city has received notices about elevated TTHM levels (disinfection byproducts). Residents have complained about rashes, headaches, and foul-smelling water, but she says concerns have been downplayed or ignored.

A local news report stated that while residents have dealt with water issues for years, things escalated after Hurricane Helene in fall 2024.

“The high winds from Helene knocked off an aerator/scrubber system from our water tower on 5th Street,” Apalachicola City Manager Michael Brillhart told NewsChannel 7.

This critical part of treatment system is meant to filter odor, organics, and byproducts.

“Since then, we’ve been experiencing grey, discolored water that smells like rotten eggs or sewage, and some of us are afraid to even bathe our children,” she wrote. “Many are forced to use bottled water for daily tasks, all while paying full water bills,” noting that local officials continue to claim that the water is “safe.”

The City has ordered replacement equipment for both aeration systems. Installation is expected to be completed this summer.

But that’s a long time to wait when your water stinks.

“Residents feel lied to, overlooked, and sick,” she wrote. “Several of us are actively trying to raise awareness and collect evidence, but we don’t have the resources, voice, or platform that could truly make a difference.”

This week, the City of Apalachicola posted a boil water notice asking residents not to drink the water unless it is boiled.

A Water Information Workshop has been set for Thursday, June 12, at 5 p.m. at 74 6th Street. On Facebook, the city said the public meeting will update the community on the status of repairs, information on the steps being taken to improve water quality, and to hear your questions and concerns.

I encourage everyone in town to show up and get your questions answered!

Upgrade Projects Across the Country

The coinciding issues of aging infrastructure and financing upgrades to water treatment plants are ongoing throughout the country.

In Dayton, Ohio, the city announced last year that it is in the early planning stages of constructing a new $250 million PFAS treatment center that would be the largest facility of its kind in the United States and one of the larger projects in the city’s history. To understand the magnitude of this cost, the general fund budget for the entire city in 2024 was about $214.5 million.

Other places that are working on upgrades:

Sacramento, California (2025)

Tyler, Texas (2025)

Asheville, North Carolina (2025)

Monroe, Louisiana (2025)

Hartford City, Indiana (2024)

Davenport, Iowa (2024)

Minneapolis, Minnesota (2023)

Brady, Texas (2022)

Learn more about water infrastructure funding in our article from last year.

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It it a crisis? You tell us. What’s happening in your city or town? Are upgrades happening? Experiencing water issues? Keep the conversation going in the comments below.