Editing Water supply and sanitation in the United States

{{Short description|none}}<!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" – please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox water supply and sanitation
|country=United States
|water_coverage            =
|access_improved_water     =
|access_basic_water        = 99.88% (2020)<ref name="Washdata">{{Cite web|title=WHO UNICEF JMP|url=https://washdata.org/data/household#!/dashboard/new|access-date=January 27, 2022|website=washdata.org}}</ref>
|sanitation_coverage       =
|access_improved_sanitation=
|access_basic_sanitation   = 99.68% (2020)<ref name="Washdata" />
|share_wastewater_treated  =
|continuity_of_supply      =
|urban_water_use           = {{convert|330|L|USgal}} in 2010<ref name="USGS DS10"/>
|water_use                 =
|tariff                    =
|metering                  = very high{{Clarify |date=February 2024}}
|investment                = $28.5 bn or $97/capita (2005)<ref name="United States Census Bureau">{{cite web
  | author = United States Census Bureau
  | author-link = United States Census Bureau
  | title = Statistical Abstract of the United States. State and Local Governments: Expenditures for Public Works 1995–2005
  | url = https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0420.pdf
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090304021823/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0420.pdf
  
  | archive-date = March 4, 2009
  | access-date = March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="census.gov">Calculated from {{cite web
  | author = United States Census Bureau
  | author-link = United States Census Bureau
  | title = State and Local Government Finances by Level of Government and by State: 2005–06
  | url = https://www.census.gov/govs/estimate/0600ussl_1.html
  | access-date = March 25, 2009
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090501160413/http://www.census.gov/govs/estimate/0600ussl_1.html
  | archive-date = May 1, 2009
  
  }}</ref>
|share_by_utilities        = 39% (water only)<ref name="CWSS Finance">{{cite report |title=Community Water System Survey 2000, Vol. 1 |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C. |date=December 2002 |url=http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/consumer/pdf/cwss_2000_volume_i.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|18}}
|financing                 =
|tax_financing             = 5% by government grants, 13% by government loans (water only, 2000)<ref name="CWSS Finance" />
|external_financing        =
|non_revenue_water         =
|decentralization          =
|company                   =
|regulator                 =
|policy_setting            = State and federal
|sector_law                =
|urban_providers           =4,000<ref name="EPA stats" /><ref>Urban providers are defined as entities serving systems with more than 10,000 inhabitants</ref>
|rural_providers           =50,000<ref name="EPA stats" />
|providers                 = Local
}}

'''Water supply and sanitation in the United States''' involves a number of issues including [[water scarcity]], [[Water pollution in the United States|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 overflow]]s.<ref name="AMWA" /><ref name="National Academies" /> Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water.<ref name="EPA:Water on Tap - Charges">{{cite report |date=December 2009 |title=Water on Tap: What You Need to Know |url=https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=P1008ZP0.txt |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C. |page=11 |id=EPA 816-K-009-002}} (Quoting {{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/water/speeches/041503tm.html |title=Investing in America's Water Infrastructure |last=Mehan |first=G. Tracy III |date=April 15, 2003 |series=Schwab Capital Markets' Global Water Conference |website=Speeches and Testimony |publisher=EPA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030602154004/http://www.epa.gov/water/speeches/041503tm.html |archive-date=June 2, 2003}}){{Dead link|date=April 2022}}</ref> As for [[drinking water quality in the United States|drinking water quality]], there are concerns about disinfection by-products, [[lead]], [[perchlorates]],  [[Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances|PFAS]] and pharmaceutical substances, but generally drinking water quality in the U.S. is good.

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 [[Reclaimed water|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 system]]s, 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).<ref name="EPA Alumni 2016"/> 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.<ref name="EPA private wells">{{cite web |title=Private Drinking Water Wells |url=https://www.epa.gov/privatewells |date=April 26, 2019 |publisher=EPA}}</ref><ref name="United States Geological Survey 2005">{{cite web |title=Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000: Domestic Supply |publisher=United States Geological Survey (USGS) |year=2005 |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/circ1268/htdocs/text-do.html| access-date = February 23, 2015}}</ref> The accessibility of water not only depends on geographical location, but on the communities that belong to those regions.<ref name="Patel 2020" /> 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 commission]]s 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 fund]]s.<ref name="CWSRF-learn">{{cite web |title=Learn about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund |url=https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf/learn-about-clean-water-state-revolving-fund-cwsrf |date=April 11, 2022 |publisher=EPA}}</ref><ref name="DWSRF-learn">{{cite web |title=How the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Works |url=https://www.epa.gov/dwsrf/how-drinking-water-state-revolving-fund-works |date=June 24, 2022 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

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,<ref name="EPA:Water on Tap - Charges" /> which is about the same level as in Europe. The median household spent about 1.1 percent of its income on water and sewage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mean Income: 1975 to 2007 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |year=2007 |url=https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/h06AR.html |access-date=February 28, 2009  |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20081127031415/http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/h06AR.html |archive-date=November 27, 2008}}</ref> By 2018, 87% of the American population receives water from publicly owned [[water industry|water companies]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hanna |first=Thomas M. |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/12/public-state-ownership-united-states-socialism |title=The Public Ownership Solution |date=December 10, 2018 |magazine=Jacobin}}</ref>

{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==
{{see also|History of water supply and sanitation}}
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.<ref name="JUT">{{cite journal |last1=Burian |first1=Steven J. |last2=Nix |first2=Stephan J. |last3=Pitt |first3=Robert E. |last4=Durrans |first4=S. Rocky |title=Urban Wastewater Management in the United States: Past, Present, and Future |url=http://www.sewerhistory.org/articles/whregion/urban_wwm_mgmt/urban_wwm_mgmt.pdf |date=2000 |journal=Journal of Urban Technology |volume=7 |issue=3 |doi = 10.1080/713684134 |pages=33–62|s2cid=23561154 }}</ref> 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 (physician)|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. [[Sewage treatment|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. [[U.S. Congress|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===
[[File:Croton Aqueduct - Harper's 1860 - Section of the high bridge over the Harlem River.jpg|thumb|[[Croton Aqueduct]], New York]]
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.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of New York City Drinking Water |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/history-of-new-york-citys-drinking-water.page |access-date=May 3, 2020 |website=Water Supply |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection}}</ref> Also in 1842, construction was completed on [[Chicago]]'s first water works, with water mains made of cedar and a water intake located about {{convert|150|ft|m}} into [[Lake Michigan]].<ref>City of Chicago Water Department:[http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/home.do?BV_SessionID=@@@@2080037219.1285093230@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccccadelidjdihmcefecelldffhdfho.0 Water History]{{dead link |date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}. Retrieved July 26, 2010.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Boston's Water System History |url=http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/04water/html/hist1.htm |date=September 2, 2015 |publisher=Massachusetts Water Resources Authority |location=Boston, MA}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite report |date=1997 |title=Dalecarlia Water Treatment Plant, Washington, D.C. |url=http://cdn.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/dc/dc0900/dc0950/data/dc0950data.pdf |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |location=Philadelphia, PA |series=Historic American Engineering Record |page=2 |id=Survey No. DC-54}}</ref>

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 filter]]s 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.<ref name="EPA Alumni 2016">{{cite web |title=Drinking Water: A Half Century of Progress |url=http://www.epaalumni.org/hcp/drinkingwater.pdf |date=2016 |publisher=EPA Alumni Association |location=Grasonville, MD}}</ref> 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).<ref name="EPA DW history">{{cite report |title=The History of Drinking Water Treatment |url=https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=200024H9.txt |date=February 2000 |publisher=EPA |id=EPA 816-F-00-006}}</ref> Cities also began to construct sewers in the late 19th century.<ref name="JUT"/> 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,<ref name="EPA DW history"/>{{rp|2}} later being gradually displaced by [[rapid sand filter|rapid sand filtration]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sedlak |first=David |title=Water 4.0: The Past, Present, and Future of the World's Most Vital Resource |url=https://archive.org/details/water40pastprese0000sedl |url-access=registration |date=2014 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |pages=[https://archive.org/details/water40pastprese0000sedl/page/54 54]-55 |isbn=978-0-300-19935-2}}</ref> As a result of the water purification efforts, mortality among black infants declined in particular,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Troesken |first=Werner |title=Water, Race, and Disease |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/water-race-and-disease |date=2004 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=978-0-262-20148-3}}</ref> leading to a 13 percent reduction in the black-white infant mortality gap.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=D. Mark |last2=Charles |first2=Kerwin Kofi |last3=Rees |first3=Daniel I. |last4=Wang |first4=Tianyi |date=2019 |title=Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w26489|publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |location=Cambridge, MA |doi=10.3386/w26489|s2cid=214337408 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

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&nbsp;mi (375&nbsp;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.<ref name="EPA Alumni 2016" />

===Sanitation until 1948===
[[File:Construction of a Sewer Trench, Main Street, Keene, New Hampshire (4464568967) no caption.jpg|thumb|Sewer construction in [[Keene, New Hampshire]] in 1882]]
Most of the first sewer systems in the United States were built as [[combined sewer]]s (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 sewer]]s from [[storm water drain]]s) 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.<ref name="JUT"/> 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.<ref name="JUT"/>

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.<ref name="JUT"/> 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.<ref name="JUT"/>

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|date=April 2022}}

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, [[Septic tank|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.<ref name="JUT"/>

===After 1948: Federal government===
[[File:Stickney Water Reclamation Plant.jpg|thumb|[[Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago#Water Reclamation|Stickney Water Reclamation Plant]], serving metropolitan Chicago]]
[[File:US Wastewater Treatment Levels Before & After CWA.png|thumb|The CWA construction grants program funded new sewage treatment plants and upgrading of existing plants to national [[secondary treatment]] standards.]]
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 [[Clean Water Act#Earlier legislation|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.<ref name="JUT"/>

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.<ref>{{cite report |date=July 9, 1970 |title=Reorganization Plans Nos. 3 and 4 of 1970. Message from the President of the United States to the House of Representatives |series=House of Representatives, 91st Congress, 2d Session |url=https://archive.epa.gov/ocir/leglibrary/pdf/created.pdf |id=Document no. 91-366}}</ref> 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.<ref>United States. Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. [http://www.epw.senate.gov/water.pdf Pub.L. 92-500.] Approved October 18, 1972.</ref> In 1974, the [[Safe Drinking Water Act]] was adopted for the regulation of [[public water system]]s. 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.<ref name="EPA Alumni 2016" /> This law specified a number of contaminants that must be closely monitored and reported to residents should they exceed the [[maximum contaminant level]]s (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.<ref name="EPA Alumni 2016" /> The new law required federal and state governments to closely monitor local drinking water utilities for safety and compliance with federal standards.<ref name="CWA">[http://www.randomhistory.com/about.html RandomHistory.com]:[http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/001water.html Clean Water For All: A History of Drinking Water Treatment]. Retrieved July 26, 2010.</ref> 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.<ref name="JUT"/> 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.<ref name="JUT"/> In the mid-1990s decentralized systems served approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population, and approximately 37 percent of new housing developments.<ref>EPA (1997). [http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/plan_tech/docs/septic_rtc_exec.pdf "Response to Congress on Use of Decentralized Wastewater."] Retrieved July 26, 2010. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615055659/http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/plan_tech/docs/septic_rtc_exec.pdf |date=June 15, 2010 }}</ref>

The vast majority of municipal wastewater in the U.S. is treated to the national [[secondary treatment]] standard or better.<ref name="EPA-CWNS2012"/>{{rp|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 [[Sewage treatment#Primary treatment|advanced primary process]].<ref>City of San Diego, Public Utilities, Wastewater:[http://www.sandiego.gov/mwwd/general/history.shtml History and Background] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506004928/http://www.sandiego.gov/mwwd/general/history.shtml |date=May 6, 2010 }}. Retrieved July 26, 2010.</ref> 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".<ref>EPA (December 6, 1995). [http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/DF9461707694D605852570D8005E116E "U.S. EPA Advances Wastewater Treatment Waiver For San Diego."] Retrieved July 26, 2010.</ref>

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).<ref name="CWA Title VI">United States. Clean Water Act. Title VI: "State Water Pollution Control Revolving Funds."{{USC|33|1381}} ''et seq.''</ref> 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.<ref name="CSO Policy">EPA (April 19, 1994). [https://www.epa.gov/npdes/npdes-cso-control-policy "Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy."] ''[[Federal Register]]'', 59 FR 18688.</ref> 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.<ref name="SDWA1996">United States. [http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ182/pdf/PLAW-104publ182.pdf "Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996."] {{USPL|104|182}}, {{USStat|110|1613}}. Approved August 6, 1996.</ref>

==Technical and environmental overview==
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.
[[File:Urban Water Cycle - EPA 2004.png|thumb|Typical urban water cycle]]

===Infrastructure===
The centralized drinking water supply infrastructure in the United States consists of [[dam]]s and [[reservoir]]s, [[Water well|well fields]], [[pumping station]]s, [[aqueduct (water supply)|aqueduct]]s for the transport of large quantities of water over long distances, [[Water purification|water treatment plants]], reservoirs in the [[water distribution system]] (including [[water tower]]s), and 1.8 million miles of distribution lines.<ref name="CWSS Finance" />{{rp|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.<ref name="EPA private wells"/><ref name="United States Geological Survey 2005"/>

The centralized sanitation infrastructure in the U.S. consists of 1.2 million miles of sewers—including both [[sanitary sewer]]s and [[combined sewer]]s, sewage [[pumping station]]s 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.<ref name="EPA-CWNS2012">{{cite report |date=January 2016 |title=2012 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey; Report to Congress |url=https://www.epa.gov/cwns/clean-watersheds-needs-survey-cwns-report-congress-2012 |publisher=EPA |id=EPA 830-R-15005}}</ref>{{rp|26}} About 860 communities in the U.S. have combined sewer systems, serving about 40 million people.<ref name="EPA CSO">{{cite web |title=Combined Sewer Overflow Frequent Questions |url=https://www.epa.gov/npdes/combined-sewer-overflow-frequent-questions |date=August 24, 2020 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> In addition, at least 17% of Americans are served by on-site sanitation systems such as [[septic tank]]s.<ref name="JMP">{{cite web|author1=World Health Organization |author-link1=World Health Organization |author2=UNICEF |title=Joint Monitoring Program |url=http://www.wssinfo.org |access-date=March 2, 2008  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216075751/http://www.wssinfo.org/ |archive-date=February 16, 2008 }}</ref>

In the United States over 75 percent of the population is served by over 16,000 municipal sewage treatment plants.<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=January 8, 2016|title=Water and Wastewater Systems Sector|url=https://www.dhs.gov/water-and-wastewater-systems-sector|website=Critical Infrastructure Sectors|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> Most plants are required to meet national secondary treatment standards.<ref>Clean Water Act sec. 304(d)(1), {{USC|33|1314(d)(1)}} and "Secondary Treatment Regulation", ''Code of Federal Regulations,'' [https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=e74c6c2b3f99368387e9c28d5805ee39&mc=true&node=pt40.24.133&rgn=div5 40 CFR Part 133].</ref><ref name="EPA secondary reg">{{cite web|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=November 1, 2016|title=Secondary Treatment Standards|url=https://www.epa.gov/npdes/secondary-treatment-standards|website=National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System|publisher=EPA}}</ref>

===Water sources===
[[File:Wachusett Res 2005.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Wachusett Reservoir]] is a source of drinking water supply for [[Boston]]]]
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.<ref name="EPA:Water on Tap - Charges"/>

For a surface water system to operate without filtration it has to fulfill certain criteria set by the EPA under its 2006 [[Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule|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.<ref>EPA. [http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/nycshed/filtad.htm "New York City Watershed:Filtration Avoidance."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417014529/http://www.epa.gov/region02/water/nycshed/filtad.htm |date=April 17, 2009 }} Retrieved April 17, 2009.</ref>

====Cities supplied primarily by surface water without filtration====
[[Boston Water and Sewer Commission|Boston]], [[New York City water supply system|New York City]], [[San Francisco Water Department|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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Management Strategy, National Research Council |title=Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply: Assessing the New York City Strategy |publisher=The National Academies Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-309-06777-5}}</ref>

Boston receives most of its water from the [[Quabbin Reservoir|Quabbin]] and [[Wachusett Reservoir|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 Aqueduct|Catskill]] and [[Delaware Aqueduct|Delaware]], do not have filtration. The Catskill watershed is in one of the largest protected wilderness areas in the United States.<ref>{{cite report |title=2005 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wsstate.html |publisher=New York City Department of Environmental Protection |access-date=September 19, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060618184414/http://nyc.gov/html/dep/html/wsstate.html |archive-date = June 18, 2006}}</ref> Water from the two systems has been treated with [[ultraviolet germicidal irradiation]] since 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Catskill–Delaware Ultraviolet Water Treatment Facility, New York |url=https://www.water-technology.net/projects/catskill-delaware-ultraviolet-water-treatment-facility/ |access-date=November 4, 2021 |website=Water Technology |publisher=Verdict Media Ltd. |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Greenemeier |first=Larry |title=Turning on the Zap: New York City Readies World's Largest UV Drinking-Water Disinfection Plant |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nyc-uv-drinking-water-disinfection/ |date=August 31, 2012 |magazine=Scientific American}}</ref> The [[New Croton Aqueduct|Croton system]], which supplies 10% of the city's water, has been filtered since 2015.<ref>{{cite web |title=Croton Water Filtration Plant |url=https://www.water-technology.net/projects/crotonfiltration/ |access-date=November 4, 2021 |website=Water Technology}}</ref>

[[San Francisco]] obtains 85% of its drinking water from high Sierra snowmelt through the [[Hetch Hetchy Reservoir]] in Yosemite National Park.<ref>[[San Francisco Public Utilities Commission]]:[http://sfwater.org/msc_main.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/165 Water Sources & Water Supply Planning]. Retrieved April 16, 2009.</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kehoe |first=Paula |title=San Francisco's Water Supply |publisher = San Francisco Public Utilities Commission |url=http://sfwater.org/mto_main.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/165/MTO_ID/288
|access-date = February 23, 2009}}</ref>

The largest source of water supply for Portland, Oregon, is the [[Bull Run Watershed]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Bull Run Watershed |publisher=Portland Water Bureau |url=http://www.portlandonline.com/water/index.cfm?c=29784 |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref>

[[Denver Water|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 (Colorado)|Blue River]] in the Colorado River. Water is diverted from there through the Harold D. Roberts Tunnel under the [[Continental Divide of the Americas|Continental Divide]] into the [[South Platte River]] Basin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Denver Water: An Overview |publisher=Denver Water |date=September 11, 2008 |url=http://www.denverwater.org/aboutdw/aboutdwmain.html |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530164344/http://www.denverwater.org/aboutdw/aboutdwmain.html |archive-date=May 30, 2008}}</ref>

====Cities supplied primarily by surface water with water treatment====
[[File:Lake Havasu 1.jpg|thumb|right|Lake Havasu on the [[Colorado River]] is the secondary source of drinking water for [[Phoenix, Arizona]], supplying about 40% of Phoenix's water supply. 50% comes from the watersheds of the Verde and Salt Rivers, according to the official website of the City of Phoenix Water Services Department. [[Los Angeles]] also obtains a significant percentage of its water supply from Lake Havasu.]] 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.<ref name="scaq">{{cite web|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/feb2008/2008-02-12-095.asp|title=Lake Mead Water Could Dry Up by 2021|access-date=February 28, 2009|publisher=Environment News Service|year=2008}}</ref> To supply a portion of the future water supply, Las Vegas plans to buy water rights in the [[Snake Valley (Great Basin)|Snake Valley]] in [[White Pine County, Nevada|White Pine County]], {{convert|250|mi|abbr=on}} north of the city straddling the Utah border and other areas, pumping it to Las Vegas through a US$2 billion pipeline.<ref>{{cite web |title=Water Wars: Quenching Las Vegas' Thirst |work=ABC News |date=April 5, 2007 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3012250 |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] draws about half of its drinking water from the [[Salt River (Arizona)|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]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Los Angeles Aqueduct |publisher=Los Angeles Department of Water and Power |url=http://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/cms/ladwp004409.jsp |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> with additional supplies from Lake Havasu through the Colorado River Aqueduct.<ref>{{cite web |title=California's Colorado River Allocation |publisher=Metropolitan Water District of Southern California |url=http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/yourwater/supply/colorado/colorado04.html |access-date=February 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150305014834/http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/yourwater/supply/colorado/colorado04.html |archive-date=March 5, 2015}}</ref> [[San Diego]] imports nearly 90 percent of its water from other areas, specifically northern California and the Colorado River.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview |publisher=City of San Diego Water Department |url=http://www.sandiego.gov/water/gen-info/overview.shtml |access-date=March 27, 2009 |archive-date=May 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528194844/http://www.sandiego.gov/water/gen-info/overview.shtml  }}</ref>

[[File:Philadelphia skyline August 2007.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Schuylkill River]] provides 40% of the water used in [[Philadelphia]]]]

The [[Mississippi River#Communities along the river|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 River|Etowah]], [[Flint River (Georgia)|Flint]], [[Ocmulgee]] and [[Oconee River|Oconee]] rivers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Water Supply Basics. Where Does Our Water Come from and How Do We Use It? |publisher=Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District |url=http://www.northgeorgiawater.com/html/207.htm |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203141411/http://northgeorgiawater.com/html/207.htm |archive-date=February 3, 2009  }}</ref> [[Chicago]] is supplied by water from [[Lake Michigan]] and [[Detroit]] receives its water from the [[Detroit River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Consumer Confidence Reports |publisher=City of Chicago, Department of Water Management |url=http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/water/supp_info/consumer_confidancereports.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322203139/http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/water/supp_info/consumer_confidancereports.html  |archive-date=March 22, 2010 |access-date=January 9, 2015}}</ref> [[Philadelphia]] receives 60% of its water from the [[Delaware River]] and 40% from the [[Schuylkill River]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Urban Water Cycle |publisher=Philadelphia Water Department |url=http://www.phila.gov/water/urban_water_cycle.html |access-date=March 28, 2009}}</ref> [[Washington, D.C.]] receives its water from the [[Potomac River]] through the [[Washington Aqueduct]].<ref>{{cite web |title=From the Potomac to your Pipes |publisher=District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) |url=https://www.dcwater.com/drinking-water |access-date=January 16, 2018}}</ref>

====Cities supplied primarily by groundwater====
[[Miami]] and [[Miami metropolitan area|its metropolitan area]] obtain drinking water primarily from the [[Biscayne Aquifer]]. Given increasing water demand, [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade County]] is considering the use of [[reclaimed water]] to help preserve the Biscayne Aquifer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reclaimed Water |publisher=Miami-Dade County |url=http://www.metro-dade.com/wasd/water_reclaim.asp |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906131338/http://www.metro-dade.com/wasd/water_reclaim.asp |archive-date=September 6, 2008  }}</ref> [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] receives its water from [[artesian aquifer]]s.<ref>The University of Memphis, Groundwater Institute. No date. [http://gwi.memphis.edu/history/history.htm History of the Memphis Water] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20040609041335/http://gwi.memphis.edu/history/history.htm |date=June 9, 2004 }}. Retrieved 2-27-09.</ref> [[San Antonio Water System|San Antonio]] draws the bulk of its water from the [[Edwards Aquifer]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saws.org/who_we_are/chrono/ |title=History & Chronology |publisher=San Antonio Water System |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623201900/http://www.saws.org/who_we_are/chrono/ |archive-date=June 23, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saws.org/our_water/aquifer/aboutaquifer.shtml |title=About the Edwards Aquifer |publisher=San Antonio Water System |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622123320/http://www.saws.org/our_water/aquifer/aboutaquifer.shtml |archive-date=June 22, 2012 }}</ref> it did not use any surface water until 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.saws.org/our_water/waterresources/projects/western_canyon.shtml |title=Western Canyon Project |publisher=San Antonio Water System |access-date=June 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711175815/http://www.saws.org/our_water/waterresources/projects/western_canyon.shtml |archive-date=July 11, 2012 }}</ref>

====Cities supplied by a mix of groundwater and surface water====
Seventy-one percent of [[Houston]]'s supply flows from the [[Trinity River (Texas)|Trinity River]] into [[Lake Livingston]], and from the [[San Jacinto River (Texas)|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Drinking Water Operations |publisher=City of Houston, Public Utilities Division |url=http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/utilities/drinkingwater.htm  |access-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604060549/http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/utilities/drinkingwater.htm |archive-date = June 4, 2008}}</ref>

====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 [[Prior appropriation water rights|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).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rainwater Collection in Colorado|url=http://water.state.co.us/DWRIPub/Documents/DWR_RainwaterFlyer.pdf|access-date=March 24, 2012|work=Colorado water law, notices.|publisher=Colorado Division of Water Resources|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306062122/http://water.state.co.us/DWRIPub/Documents/DWR_RainwaterFlyer.pdf}}</ref> Up to 10 large scale pilot studies may also be permitted (HB 09–1129).<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 28, 2010|title=Criteria and Guidelines for the "Rainwater Harvesting"|url=http://cwcb.state.co.us/legal/documents/guidelines/finalrainwaterpilotcg.pdf|access-date=March 24, 2012|work=Pilot Project Program|publisher=Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB)|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305152708/http://cwcb.state.co.us/legal/documents/guidelines/finalrainwaterpilotcg.pdf}}</ref> 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, Colorado|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]].<ref name="Johnson3">{{Cite news|last=Johnson|first=Kirk|date=June 28, 2009|title=It's Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/us/29rain.html?em|access-date=June 30, 2009}}</ref> Texas offers a sales tax exemption on the purchase of rainwater harvesting equipment. Both Texas<ref>{{Cite web|title=82(R) H.B. No. 3391. An act relating to rainwater harvesting and other water conservation initiatives. † went into effect on September 1, 2011|url=http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/html/HB03391F.htm|access-date=February 8, 2013|work=82nd Regular Session|publisher=Texas Legislature Online}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NCSL3">{{Cite web|title=State Rainwater Harvesting Statutes, Programs and Legislation|url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/rainwater-harvesting.aspx|access-date=February 7, 2013|work=NCSL|archive-date=October 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008151836/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/rainwater-harvesting.aspx}}</ref>

===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 {{convert|29.4|e9USgal|m3}} per day in 2005,<ref name="USGS DS">{{cite report |title=Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005: Domestic Supply |publisher = United States Geological Survey (USGS) |year=2005 |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1344/pdf/c1344.pdf |page=19 |access-date=February 23, 2015}}.</ref> and {{convert|27.4|e9USgal|m3}} per day in 2010 (7 percent lower).<ref name="USGS DS10">{{cite report |title=Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2010: Domestic Supply |publisher=United States Geological Survey (USGS) |year=2010 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1405/pdf/circ1405.pdf |page=21 |access-date=April 21, 2017}}.</ref> The bulk of domestic water is provided through public networks. 13% or {{convert|3.6|e9USgal|m3}} of water is self-supplied.<ref name="USGS DS10"/> The average domestic water use per person in the U.S. was {{convert|98|USgal|L|adj=on}} per day in 2005,<ref name="USGS DS"/> and {{convert|88|USgal|L|adj=on}} per day in 2010.<ref name="USGS DS10"/> This is about 2.2 times as high as in [[Water supply and sanitation in England and Wales|England]] (150 Liter)<ref>{{cite web|author=Environment Agency |author-link=Environment Agency |title=Household water use in England and Wales, 1992 to 2007 |url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/58847.aspx |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090205165024/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/data/58847.aspx  |archive-date=February 5, 2009}}</ref> and 2.6 times as high as in [[Public water supply and sanitation in Germany#Water use|Germany]] (126 Liter).<ref>{{cite web |title= Water use continues to decline slightly (in German) |publisher=Federal Statistical Office of Germany |date=January 20, 2006 |url= http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/DE/Presse/pm/2006/01/PD06__031__322.psml |access-date=February 23, 2009}} The original German quote is: "''...{{nbsp}}ergibt sich daraus ein durchschnittlicher Trinkwasserverbrauch von 126 Litern je Einwohner und Tag''", which translates as "...{{nbsp}}therefore the average drinking water consumption is 126 liter per inhabitant per day". The calculation is based on total water production by all utilities in 2004 divided by the number of people served by the same utilities. The figure includes small commercial water use ("Kleingewerbe").</ref><ref>[http://www.bdew.de/bdew.nsf/id/DE_Profile_of_the_German_Water_Industry/$file/Profile_German_Water_Industry_2008.pdf Profile of the German Water Industry 2008], p. 20</ref>

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 {{convert|51|USgal|L|adj=on}} per day in Maine to {{convert|148|USgal|L|adj=on}} per day in Arizona and {{convert|167|USgal|L|adj=on}} per day in Utah.<ref name="USGS DS10"/> 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.<ref name="aquacraft.com">{{cite web|last1=Mayer |first1=P.W. |last2=DeOreo |first2=W.B. |title=Residential End Uses of Water |publisher=American Water Works Association Research Foundation, Denver, CO |year=1999 |url=http://www.aquacraft.com/Publications/resident.htm |access-date=February 24, 2009 |display-authors=etal  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204131221/http://aquacraft.com/Publications/resident.htm |archive-date=February 4, 2009 }} The study covered 1,188 households in 14 cities over 3 years.</ref> A 2016 update of the 1999 study measured the average quantities and percent shares of seven [[residential water use in the U.S. and Canada|indoor end uses of water]]:<ref name="REUW2016">{{cite report |last1=DeOreo |first1=William B. |last2=Mayer |first2=P. |last3=Dziegielewski |first3=B. |last4=Kiefer |first4=J. |title=Residential End Uses of Water, Version 2. |url=http://www.waterrf.org/Pages/Projects.aspx?PID=4309 |date=2016 |publisher=Water Research Foundation |location=Denver, CO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408075820/http://www.waterrf.org/Pages/Projects.aspx?PID=4309 |archive-date=April 8, 2019 |id=Project No. 4309}}</ref>
* 24% [[toilet]]s
*  3% [[bathing|baths]]
* 20% [[shower]]s
* 17% [[Clothes washer]]s
*  1% [[Dishwasher]]s
* 19% [[Faucet]]s
*  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.<ref name="Gallup" /> 74% of Americans said they bought [[bottled water]].<ref name="Gallup" /> 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.<ref name="Hobson WL, Knochel ML, Byington CL, Young PC, Hoff CJ, Buchi KF 2007 457–61">{{cite journal |last1=Hobson |first1=W.L. |last2=Knochel | first2 = M.L. |last3=Byington |first3=C.L. |last4=Young |first4=P.C. |last5=Hoff |first5=C.J. |last6=Buchi |first6=K.F. |title= Bottled, filtered, and tap water use in Latino and non-Latino children |journal=Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine |volume=161 |issue=5 |pages=457–61 |year=2007 |pmid=17485621 |doi=10.1001/archpedi.161.5.457 |doi-access=free }}</ref> This notion is also repeated among Asians.<ref name="Hobson WL, Knochel ML, Byington CL, Young PC, Hoff CJ, Buchi KF 2007 457–61"/>

==Institutional overview==
===Service providers===
[[File:California aqueduct.triddle.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The [[California Aqueduct]] brings water from Northern to Southern California]]
{{See also|List of United States water companies}}
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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/information-about-public-water-systems |title=Information about Public Water Systems |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=March 26, 2020 |website=Drinking Water Requirements for States and Public Water Systems |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

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,<ref name="EPA stats">{{cite report |title= Factoids: Drinking Water and Ground Water Statistics for 2007 |publisher= EPA |url= http://www.epa.gov/safewater/databases/pdfs/data_factoids_2007.pdf |date = March 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080715080808/http://www.epa.gov/safewater/data/pdfs/data_factoids_2007.pdf |archive-date = July 15, 2008 |id=EPA 816-K-07-004}}</ref> 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<ref name="EPA stats"/> The United States Geological Survey estimates that "About 242 million people depended on water from public suppliers" in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title= Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2000: Public Supply |publisher= United States Geological Survey |year= 2005 |url= http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/circ1268/htdocs/text-ps.html |access-date= February 23, 2015}}. The EPA figures are more recent, while the USGS data are more consistent, because they show both the number of people connected to public systems and those self-supplied, with both figures adding up to the total population of the U.S.</ref> 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.<ref name="EPA stats"/> In 2000, 15% of Americans (43.5 million people) relied on their own water source, usually a well, for drinking water.<ref name="USGS DS" /><ref name="EPA private wells"/>

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 [[aqueduct (watercourse)|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.<ref name="NAWC Facts" /><ref>The 89% figures is calculated based on the 11% figure for the population served by private utilities, given that there are three types of ownership of assets: public, private and cooperative.</ref> Usually public systems are managed by [[public utilities|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 cooperative]]s are a major provider of water services, especially in small towns and rural areas<ref name="NRWA">{{cite web |title=National Rural Water Association  |publisher = National Rural Water Association
| url = http://www.nrwa.org |access-date = February 23, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Connecting Rural America |publisher= U.S. Department of Agriculture |year= 2002 |url= http://www.usda.gov/rus/index2/aboutus.htm |access-date= February 23, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090305015546/http://www.usda.gov/rus/index2/aboutus.htm |archive-date= March 5, 2009  }}</ref>

'''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.<ref name="NAWC Facts" /> 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 (company)|American Water]], which serves 15 million customers in 1,600 communities in the U.S. and Canada.<ref>[[American Water (company)|American Water]]:[http://www.amwater.com/About-Us/Corporate-Information/ Corporate Information] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090314061633/http://amwater.com/About-Us/Corporate-Information/ |date=March 14, 2009 }}. Retrieved March 26, 2009.</ref> It is followed by [[United Water]], which serves 7 million customers and is owned by the French firm [[Suez Environnement]].<ref>[[United Water]]:[http://www.unitedwater.com/facts-and-figures.aspx About us: Facts and figures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705125603/http://www.unitedwater.com/facts-and-figures.aspx |date=July 5, 2014 }}. Retrieved March 26, 2009.</ref> Overall, about 33.5 million Americans (11% of the population) get water from a privately owned drinking water utility.<ref name="NAWC Facts">{{cite web |title= Private Water Service Providers: Quick Facts |publisher= National Association of Water Companies |url= http://www.nawc.org/resources/documents/pwsp-quick-facts.html |access-date = February 28, 2009}}, based on {{cite web |title = Community water system survey |publisher = EPA |url= http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/cwssvr.html |access-date= March 23, 2009}} and {{cite web |title = Future Investment in Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure |publisher= Congressional Budget Office |date= November 2002 |url = http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/39xx/doc3983/11-18-WaterSystems.pdf |access-date= March 23, 2009}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NAWC Facts" />

'''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, California|Santa Clara]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sewer Utility |publisher=City of Santa Clara. California |url=http://santaclaraca.gov/pub_utility/ws_sewer_utility.html  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204223855/http://santaclaraca.gov/pub_utility/ws_sewer_utility.html |archive-date=December 4, 2007 }}</ref>
[[File:Arizona cap canal.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Central Arizona Project]] supplies water to 80 municipal, industrial, agricultural and Indian customers in Central and Southern Arizona]]

'''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.<ref>{{cite web |title= MWD at a Glance |publisher= Metropolitan Water District of Southern California |year= 2008 |url= http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/news/at_a_glance/mwd.pdf |access-date= March 27, 2009  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090824014341/http://www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/news/at_a_glance/mwd.pdf |archive-date= August 24, 2009 }}</ref> 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).<ref>{{cite web |title= About Us |publisher= Central Arizona Project |url= http://www.cap-az.com/about-cap/ |access-date= March 23, 2009  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090323134855/http://www.cap-az.com/about-cap/ |archive-date= March 23, 2009 }}</ref>

===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 Commission]]s at the state level, which are organized in the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.<ref>{{cite web |title= About NARUC |publisher= National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners |url= http://www.naruc.org/about.cfm |access-date= February 23, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150219054626/http://www.naruc.org/about.cfm |archive-date= February 19, 2015 }}</ref> (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.<ref name="Whittington" />

The environmental and [[Drinking water quality legislation of the United States|drinking water quality regulation]] is the responsibility of state departments of health or environment and the EPA.<ref>{{cite web |title= Drinking Water Basics |website= National Academies' Water Information Center |publisher= National Academy of Sciences |url= http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_5.shtml |access-date= March 23, 2009  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090328010042/http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_5.shtml |archive-date= March 28, 2009 }}</ref>

The [[Resource Conservation and Recovery Act]] (RCRA), protects groundwater by regulating the disposal of solid waste and [[hazardous waste]].<ref name="RCRA statute">United States. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. {{uspl|94|580}}, {{USC|42|6901}} ''et seq.,'' October 21, 1976.</ref> The [[Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act]] (CERCLA), also known as "Superfund," requires remediation of abandoned hazardous waste sites.<ref>United States. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. {{uspl|96|510}}, {{USC|42|9601}} ''et seq.,'' December 11, 1980.</ref>

===Wastewater treatment===
The [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) and state environmental agencies set wastewater standards under the [[Clean Water Act]].<ref>United States. Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972. {{uspl|92|500}} Approved October 18, 1972. Amended by the Clean Water Act of 1977, {{uspl|95|217}}, December 27, 1977; and the Water Quality Act of 1987, {{uspl|100|4}}, February 4, 1987.</ref> [[Point source]]s 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 [[List of United States military bases|military bases]], and some [[agricultural]] facilities, such as animal [[feedlot]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/npdes |title=National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=February 21, 2020 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> EPA sets basic national wastewater standards: The "Secondary Treatment Regulation" applies to municipal [[sewage treatment]] plants,<ref>EPA. "Secondary Treatment Regulation." ''Code of Federal Regulations,'' [https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=18071dee8e117bb234d9bf456b54f2be&mc=true&node=pt40.24.133&rgn=div5 40 CFR Part 133].</ref> and the "[[Effluent guidelines]]" which are regulations for categories of industrial facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/eg/industrial-effluent-guidelines |title=Industrial Effluent Guidelines |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=February 12, 2020 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/npdes/npdes-permit-basics |title=NPDES Permit Basics |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=July 12, 2019 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> EPA has authorized 47 state agencies to issue and enforce NPDES permits. EPA regional offices issue permits for the rest of the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/npdes/npdes-state-program-information#tab-2 |title=NPDES State Program Information—State Program Authority |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=December 2, 2019 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

Wastewater discharges to [[groundwater]] are regulated by the [[Safe Drinking Water Act#Underground Injection Control (UIC) Program|Underground Injection Control Program]] (UIC) under the [[Safe Drinking Water Act]].<ref name="EPA-UIC">{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/uic |title=Protecting Underground Sources of Drinking Water from Underground Injection |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=October 3, 2019 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> UIC permits are issued by 34 state agencies and EPA regional offices.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/uic/primary-enforcement-authority-underground-injection-control-program |title=Primary Enforcement Authority for the Underground Injection Control Program |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=February 17, 2020 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf |title=Clean Water State Revolving Fund |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=February 6, 2020 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

===Other stakeholders===
There are a number of [[Professional body|professional associations]], [[trade association]]s 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,<ref>{{cite web|author=American Water Works Association |author-link=American Water Works Association |title=AWWA's story |date=March 2006 |url=http://www.awwa.org/About/Content.cfm?ItemNumber=3885&navItemNumber=1638  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070901100745/http://www.awwa.org/About/Content.cfm?ItemNumber=3885&navItemNumber=1638 |archive-date=September 1, 2007}}</ref> with a focus on the U.S. and Canada, and WEF has member associations in 30 countries.<ref>{{cite web|author=Water Environment Federation |author-link=Water Environment Federation |title=Member associations |url=http://www.wef.org/MembershipCareers/MembershipInformation/MAInfoContacts/  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060602003913/http://www.wef.org/MembershipCareers/MembershipInformation/MAInfoContacts/ |archive-date=June 2, 2006}}</ref>

There are a number of [[Industry trade group|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;<ref>{{cite web |title = About NAWC |publisher= National Association of Water Companies |url = http://www.nawc.org/ |access-date = February 26, 2009}}</ref>
* The [[National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA)]], founded in 1970, which represents the interests of wastewater utilities;<ref>{{cite web |title = About NACWA |publisher= National Association of Clean Water Agencies | url = http://www.nacwa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=2 |access-date= February 23, 2009}}</ref>
* The [[National Rural Water Association]] (NRWA), founded in 1976, which represents small water and wastewater utilities;<ref name="NRWA" />
* The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), founded in 1981, which represents the interests of large publicly owned drinking water utilities.<ref>{{cite web |title= About AMWA |publisher= Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) |url= http://www.amwa.net/cs/about_amwa/about |access-date= February 23, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090412120536/http://www.amwa.net/cs/about_amwa/about |archive-date= April 12, 2009  }}</ref>
* The Water Reuse Association, founded in 2000, which promotes water reclamation, recycling, reuse and desalination.<ref>{{cite web
|title= About the Water Reuse Association |publisher= Water Reuse Association |url= http://www.watereuse.org/about-watereuse-association |access-date = March 23, 2009}}</ref>
* The [[Water Quality Association]], founded in 1974, which represents manufacturers and dealers of equipment for water treatment.<ref>{{cite web |title = About WQA |publisher=Water Quality Association |location= Lisle, IL |url=https://www.wqa.org/about |access-date=May 16, 2017}}</ref>

In addition to [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbying]], some of these trade associations also provide public education, as well as training and technical assistance to their members.<ref>{{cite web |title = Our Association |publisher= National Rural Water Association |year= 2008 |url= http://nrwa.org/about-us/about-our-association/ |access-date= February 23, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web   |title= Water & Wastewater Leadership Center |publisher= National Association of Clean Water Agencies |url= http://www.nacwa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39&Itemid=39 |access-date= February 23, 2015}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{cite web |title= Welcome Letter from Chair of the Board |publisher= Alliance for Water Efficiency |url= http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/1Column.aspx?id=564 |access-date= March 23, 2009 |archive-date= April 6, 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090406042607/http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.org/1Column.aspx?id=564  }}</ref>

==Issues==
Among the main issues facing water users and the water industry in the U.S. in 2009 are water scarcity and [[climate change adaptation|adaptation to climate change]]; concerns about combined sewer overflows and drinking water quality; as well as concerns about a gap between investment needs and actual investments. Other issues are concerns about a swiftly retiring workforce, the affordability of water bills for the poor during a recession, and water fluoridation, which is opposed by some mainly on ethical and safety grounds.

===Water scarcity and climate change===
[[File:20230522 Colorado River water usage - livestock crops etc.svg |thumb|upright=1.25 |About 1.9 trillion gallons of water are consumed within the [[Colorado River]] basin in a typical year, contributing to a severe water shortage.<ref name=NYTimes_20230522/> Most of the Colorado River basin water used by humans is used to grow feed for livestock—more than four times the amount used for crops for direct human consumption.<ref name=NYTimes_20230522>{{cite news |last1=Shao |first1=Elena |title=The Colorado River Is Shrinking. See What's Using All the Water. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/22/climate/colorado-river-water.html |work=The New York Times |date=May 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230523164140/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/22/climate/colorado-river-water.html |archive-date=May 23, 2023 |url-status=live }} ● Shao cites {{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Brian D. |last2=Bartak |first2=Dominique |last3=Cladwell |first3=Peter |last4=Davis |first4=Kyle Frankel |last5=Debaere |first5=Peter |last6=Hoekstra |first6=Arjen Y. |last7=Li |first7=Tianshu |last8=Marston |first8=Landon |last9=McManamay |first9=Ryan |last10=Mekonnen |first10=Mesfin |last11=Ruddell |first11=Benjamin L. |last12=Rushforth |first12=Richard R. |last13=Troy |first13=Tara J. |display-authors=4 |title=Water scarcity and fish imperilment driven by beef production |journal=Nature Sustainability |date=April 2020 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=319–328 |doi=10.1038/s41893-020-0483-z |s2cid=211730442 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0483-z.epdf}}</ref>]]
With water use in the United States increasing every year, many regions are starting to feel the pressure. At least 36 states are anticipating local, regional, or statewide water shortages by 2013, even under non-drought conditions.<ref name="EPA Water Use">{{cite web |title=Water Supply and Use in the United States |website=WaterSense |publisher=EPA |url=http://epa.gov/watersense/pubs/supply.htm |access-date=February 26, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708232507/http://epa.gov/watersense/pubs/supply.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2008 }}</ref>

According to the [[United States National Academies|National Academies]], climate change affects water supply in the U.S. in the following ways:
* Rising water demands. Hotter summers mean thirstier people and plants. In addition, more evaporation from reservoirs and irrigated farmland will lead to faster depletion of water supplies.
* Increased [[drought]]. Scientific evidence suggests that rising temperatures in the southwestern United States will reduce river flows and contribute to an increased severity, frequency, and duration of droughts.
* Seasonal supply reductions. Many utilities depend on winter snowpack to store water and then gradually release it through snowmelt during spring and summer. Warmer temperatures will accelerate snowmelt, causing the bulk of the runoff to occur earlier and potentially increasing water storage needs in these areas.<ref name="National Academies">{{cite web |website = National Academies' Water Information Center |title = Drinking Water Basics |publisher = National Academies |url = http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_3.shtml |access-date = February 26, 2009  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090220002621/http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_3.shtml |archive-date = February 20, 2009 }}</ref>
In some parts of the country water supplies are dangerously low due to drought and depletion of the aquifers, particularly in the West and the South East region of the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|date=May 29, 2008|title=Cashing in on climate change|url=http://www.ibisworld.com/pressrelease/pressrelease.aspx?prid=125:|archive-url=https://archive.today/20081004003759/http://www.ibisworld.com/pressrelease/pressrelease.aspx?prid=125|archive-date=October 4, 2008|publisher=[[IBISWorld]]}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=September 2012}} Many of the dry, desert areas in the U.S. have this problem. According to AZCentral, "Arizona's groundwater levels are plummeting in many areas... The water levels in more than 2,000 wells have dropped more than 100 feet since they were first drilled."<ref>{{cite web|last1=James|first1=Ian|last2=O'Dell|first2=Rob|title=Arizona's Next Water Crisis|url=https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2019/12/05/unregulated-pumping-arizona-groundwater-dry-wells/2425078001/|website=azcentral.com|publisher=The Republic}}</ref> That sample size is approximately a fourth of Arizona's drinking-water wells.

=== Water security ===
[[Water security]] is projected to be a problem in the future since future population growth will most likely occur in areas that are currently water stressed.<ref>{{cite web |last=A.A. |first=Tindall, J.A., Campbell |title=USGS Fact Sheet 2010-3106: Water Security—National and Global Issues |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2010/3106/ |access-date=May 7, 2017 |website=pubs.usgs.gov}}</ref> Ensuring that the United States remains water secure will require policies that will ensure fair distribution of existing water sources, protecting water sources from becoming depleted, maintaining good wastewater disposal, and maintaining existing water infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zhu |first1=David Z. |last2=Yang |first2=Y. Jeffrey |year=2014 |title=Special Issue on Drinking Water Safety, Security, and Sustainability |journal=Journal of Environmental Engineering |volume=140 |issue=9 |pages=A2014001 |doi=10.1061/(asce)ee.1943-7870.0000865|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=National Research Council (U.S.). Panel on Water System Security Research |title=A review of the EPA water security research and technical support action plan |publisher=National Academies Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-309-08982-1 |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref> Currently there are no national limits for US [[groundwater]] or [[surface water]] withdrawal. If limits are imposed, the people most impacted will be the largest water withdrawers from a water source.

In 2005, 31% of US water use was for irrigation, 49% was [[Electricity generation|thermoelectric]] power, public supply 11%, industrial was 4%, aquaculture 2%, mining 1%, domestic 1%, and livestock less than 1%.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kenny |first=Joan |date=2009 |title=Estimated Use of Water in the United States in 2005 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1344/pdf/c1344.pdf |access-date=April 10, 2017 |website=United States Geological Survey}}</ref>

===Pollution===
{{main|Water pollution in the United States}}
An important turning point in managing drinking water contamination occurred after passage of the 1974 SDWA, which required the [[National Academy of Sciences]] (NAS) to study the issue. The NAS found that there really was not a lot of information available on drinking water quality. Perhaps the most important part of the study, according to senior EPA officials responsible for implementing the 1974 law, was that it described some methodologies for doing risk assessments for chemicals that were suspected carcinogens.<ref>EPA Alumni Association: Senior EPA officials discuss early implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, [http://www.epaalumni.org/history/video/interview.cfm?id=13 Video], [http://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/6014106B36AE81EB.pdf#page=11 Transcript] (see p11).</ref>

[[File:Sewer overflow RI EPA.jpg|thumb|Sanitary sewer overflow]]According to the 2015 US census, one-fifth of all households are not connected to a community sewer system. Furthermore, many households have wastewater disposal systems that have inadequate treatment, such as sewage systems directly piped to nearby bodies of water and septic systems leading to fecal contamination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Selected Housing Characteristics |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?d=ACS%205-Year%20Estimates%20Data%20Profiles&table=DP04&tid=ACSDP5Y2015.DP04 |website=American Community Survey |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=April 7, 2020}}</ref>

For example, in Barry-Easton District, Michigan 10% of the state's 1.3 million on-site wastewater treatment systems are malfunctioning, causing sewage to be running into the lakes and streams.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.mlive.com/environment/2013/05/thousands_of_failed_septic_tan.html |title=Thousands of failed septic tanks across the state threaten Michigan's waters |last=Alexander |first=Jeff |magazine=Bridge Michigan |publisher=Center for Michigan |location=Ann Arbor, MI |date=January 20, 2019}}</ref>

This pollution of water is contributed to several health concerns in the US, especially for minorities and low-income individuals. In Lowes County, Alabama, hookworm is affecting people today due to unsanitary waste disposal. 73% of residents reported to have sewage running into their homes and 34% of residents surveyed tested positive for hookworm.<ref name="Pilkington 2017">{{Cite news|last=Pilkington|first=Ed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/05/hookworm-lowndes-county-alabama-water-waste-treatment-poverty|title=Hookworm, a disease of extreme poverty, is thriving in the US south. Why?|date=September 5, 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=April 7, 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> These contaminated bodies of water also directly affect drinking water supplies, habitats and recreational sites, creating more issues for the environment. Overall, the cost to replace failed sewer systems and remove fecal waste from the water is typically higher than placing alternative infrastructure and maintaining adequate functioning systems.<ref name="Pilkington 2017" />

==== Sewer overflows ====
[[Combined sewer overflow]]s (CSO) and [[sanitary sewer]] overflows affect the quality of water resources in many parts of the U.S. About 860 communities have [[combined sewer]] systems, serving about 40 million people, mostly in the Northeast and the Great Lakes Region.<ref name="EPA CSO"/> CSO discharges during heavy storms can cause serious water pollution. A 2004 EPA report to Congress estimated that there are 9,348 CSO outflows in the U.S., discharging about {{convert|850|e9USgal|m3}} of untreated wastewater and storm water to the environment.<ref name="EPA04" /> EPA estimates that between 23,000 and 75,000 sanitary sewer overflows occur each year, resulting in releases of between 3 and {{convert|10|e9USgal|m3}} of untreated wastewater.<ref name="EPA04">{{cite web |title = Report to Congress on Impacts and Control of Combined Sewer Overflows and Sanitary Sewer Overflows |publisher=EPA |url=http://www.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/csosso_rtc_factsheet.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2009}}</ref>

The increased frequency and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change<ref name="AMWA">{{cite web |title=Implications of Climate Change for Urban Water Utilities – Main Report |publisher=Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies |date=December 2007 |url=http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-change/AMWA_Climate_Change_Paper_12.13.07.pdf |access-date=January 11, 2009 |archive-date=August 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818013241/https://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-change/AMWA_Climate_Change_Paper_12.13.07.pdf  }}</ref><ref name="AMWA Sum">{{cite web | title=Implications of Climate Change for Urban Water Utilities – Highlights | publisher=Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies | year=2007 | url=http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-change/AMWA_cchange_Summary.pdf | access-date=July 6, 2008 | archive-date=July 23, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723131737/http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-change/AMWA_cchange_Summary.pdf  }}</ref> will result in additional water pollution from wastewater treatment, storage, and conveyance systems."<ref name="AMWA Sum" /> For the most part, [[Sewage treatment|wastewater treatment]] plants and CSO control programs have been designed on the basis of the historic hydrologic record, taking no account of prospective changes in flow conditions due to climate change.<ref name="AMWA Sum" />

==== Drinking water quality ====
{{Main|Drinking water quality in the United States}}
In 2015, 9% of 500-person-or-larger community water systems monitored by the EPA, covering approximately 21 million people, violated at least one health standard. Between 1984 and 2018, between 4 and 28% of the American population received contaminated water in any given year.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Allaire | first1=Maura | last2=Wu | first2=Haowei | last3=Lall | first3=Upmanu | title=National trends in drinking water quality violations | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=115 | issue=9 | date=February 27, 2018 | issn=0027-8424 | pmid=29440421 | doi=10.1073/pnas.1719805115 | pages=2078–2083 | pmc=5834717 | bibcode=2018PNAS..115.2078A | doi-access=free }}</ref> There are several aspects of drinking water quality that are of some concern in the United States, including ''[[Cryptosporidium]],''<ref>{{cite web |title=Cryptosporidiosis and Drinking Water |publisher=Virginia Department of Health |year=2007 |url=http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/factsheets/Cryptosporidiosis_Water.htm |access-date=January 11, 2009 |archive-date=May 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513235740/http://www.vdh.state.va.us/Epidemiology/factsheets/Cryptosporidiosis_Water.htm  }}</ref> [[disinfection by-product]]s, [[lead]], [[perchlorates]], [[per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances]] (PFAS) and pharmaceutical substances.

While lead in drinking water continues to persist as a public health problem in some communities, the source of the lead is generally from the [[lead service line]]s, rather than the water delivered by the utility.<ref>{{cite web |title=Revealing the Complicated Nature of Tap Water Lead Contamination: A Madison, Wisconsin, Case Study |url=https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/revealing-complicated-nature-tap-water-lead-contamination-madison-wisconsin-case |date=July 30, 2018 |website=Science Matters |publisher=EPA}}</ref> EPA's [[Lead and Copper Rule]] (LCR) does not set an MCL, but requires a utility to take action when the lead level at a customer location reaches 0.015 mg/L.<ref>EPA. National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Subpart I - Control of Lead and Copper. {{CodeFedReg|40|141|subpart=I}}</ref> A typical utility action is to adjust the chemistry of the drinking water with anti-corrosive additives, but replacement of [[lead service line]]s (pipes that connect the water main to the home) is also an option.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lead and Copper Rule Implementation Tools |url=https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/lead-and-copper-rule-implementation-tools |date=December 22, 2020 |website=Drinking Water Requirements for States and Public Water Systems |publisher=EPA}}</ref> Most communities have avoided lead service line replacement due to the high cost.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wines |first1=Michael |last2=Schwartz |first2=John |title=Unsafe Lead Levels in Tap Water Not Limited to Flint |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/09/us/regulatory-gaps-leave-unsafe-lead-levels-in-water-nationwide.html |date=February 8, 2016 |work=New York Times}}</ref>

Congress passed the ''Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act'' tightening the definition of "lead free" plumbing, in 2011.<ref>United States. Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act. {{uspl|111|380}}. Approved January 4, 2011.</ref> EPA published a final rule implementing the law on September 1, 2020.<ref>EPA (September 1, 2020). "Use of Lead Free Pipes, Fittings, Fixtures, Solder, and Flux for Drinking Water; Final rule." ''Federal Register,'' {{USFR|85|54235}}</ref>

In response to the [[Flint water crisis|Flint, Michigan water crisis]], EPA published a revised LCR on January 15, 2021, addressing testing, pipe replacement and related issues. The rule mandates additional requirements for sampling tap water, corrosion control, public outreach and testing water in schools. The rule continues the requirement for replacement of lead service lines when the "action level" for lead is exceeded, but requires that a utility replace at least 3 percent of its lines annually, compared to 7 percent under the prior regulation.<ref>EPA (January 15, 2021). "National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Lead and Copper Rule Revisions." Final rule. {{USFR|86|4198}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Friedman |first=Lisa |title=E.P.A. to Promote Lead Testing Rule as Trump Tries to Burnish His Record |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/climate/trump-environment-lead.html |date=September 27, 2020 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

EPA's [[Drinking water quality in the United States#Consumer Confidence Reports|Consumer Confidence Rule]] of 1998 requires most public water suppliers to provide consumer confidence reports, also known as annual water quality reports, to their customers.<ref>{{cite web |title=CCR Information for Consumers |website=Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) |publisher=EPA |url=https://www.epa.gov/ccr/ccr-information-consumers |date=September 27, 2019}}</ref> Each year by July 1 anyone connected to a public water system should receive in the mail an annual water quality report that tells where water in a specific locality comes from and what's in it. Consumers can find out about these local reports on a map provided by EPA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Find Your Local CCR |website=Consumer Confidence Reports |publisher=EPA |url=http://ofmpub.epa.gov/apex/safewater/f?p=ccr_wyl |date=May 19, 2017}}</ref> 29% of Americans are reading their water quality reports. A 2003 survey found that customers were generally satisfied with the information they are receiving from their water companies and their local or state environmental offices.<ref name="Gallup">{{cite web |title=Analysis and Findings of The Gallup Organization's Drinking Water Customer Satisfaction Survey |publisher=EPA |date=August 2003 |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ccr/pdfs/tools_survey_gallup_customersatification2003.pdf |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>

EPA published a proposed rule for perchlorate on June 26, 2019, with a proposed MCL of 0.056&nbsp;mg/L for public water systems.<ref>EPA (June 26, 2019). "National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Perchlorate." Proposed Rule. ''Federal Register.'' {{usfr|84|30524}}.</ref> On July 21, 2020, EPA announced that it was withdrawing its 2019 proposal, stating that it had taken "proactive steps" with state and local governments to address perchlorate contamination.<ref name="EPA-perchlorate">{{cite web |title=Perchlorate in Drinking Water |url=https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/perchlorate-drinking-water |date=2024-01-05 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> In September 2020 the [[Natural Resources Defense Council]] filed suit against EPA for its failure to regulate perchlorate, and stated that 26 million people may be affected by perchlorate in their drinking water.<ref>{{cite news |last=Slisco |first=Aila |title=EPA Sued For Not Regulating Rocket Fuel Chemical in Drinking Water |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/epa-sued-for-not-regulating-rocket-fuel-chemical-in-drinking-water/ar-BB18GT1p |date=September 4, 2020 |work=Newsweek}}</ref> Under a court order, EPA agreed to publish a proposed perchlorate rule in 2025 and issue a final rule in 2027.<ref name="EPA-perchlorate"/>

EPA issued drinking water standards in April 2024 for six PFAS chemicals: [[perfluorooctanoic acid]] (PFOA), [[perfluorooctanesulfonic acid]] (PFOS), [[GenX]], [[perfluorobutanesulfonic acid]] (PFBS), [[perfluorohexanesulfonic acid]] (PFHxS) and [[perfluorononanoic acid]] (PFNA).<ref>EPA (April 26, 2024). "PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation." ''Federal Register,'' {{USFR|89|32532}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Final PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation |url=https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas |date=May 22, 2024 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>

==== Groundwater pollution ====
In November 2006, EPA published its ''Ground Water Rule'', due to concerns that [[public water system]]s supplied by ground water would be vulnerable to contamination from harmful microorganisms, including fecal matter.<ref>EPA, Washington, DC (November 8, 2006). "National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: Ground Water Rule." ''Federal Register,'' {{usfr|71|65574}}. Correction notice: 2006-11-21, {{usfr|75|15499}}</ref> The objective of the regulation, promulgated under the authority of the [[Safe Drinking Water Act]], is to keep microbial pathogens out of public water sources.<ref name="EPA gw-rule">{{cite web|date=December 18, 2018|title=Ground Water Rule|url=https://www.epa.gov/dwreginfo/ground-water-rule|website=Drinking Water Requirements for States and Public Water Systems|publisher=EPA|location=Washington, DC}}</ref>

Congress recognized that [[injection well]]s were a potential threat to groundwater quality when they passed the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) of 1974.<ref name="US EPA">{{Cite web|last=US EPA|first=REG 01|title=Ground Water Discharges (EPA's Underground Injection Control Program)|url=https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/drinkwater/pc_groundwater_discharges.html|access-date=March 9, 2021|website=www3.epa.gov|language=en}}</ref> This instructed the U.S. [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) to create a national program that would prevent underground injection activities that would endanger underground drinking sources. The EPA must regulate underground injection of fluids and wastes through wells that discharge or may release such material into or above an underground reservoir of drinkable water. The EPA has promoted several Underground Injection Control (UCI) regulations in order to protect underground reservoirs of drinkable water from being contaminated.<ref name="US EPA" />

===Investment gap===
In its Infrastructure Report Card the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] (ASCE) gave both the U.S. drinking water and wastewater infrastructure a grade of D− in 2005, down from D in 2001. According to the report, "the nation's drinking water system faces a staggering public investment need to replace aging facilities, comply with safe drinking water regulations and meet future needs."<ref>{{cite web |title=Infrastructure Report Card: America's Crumbling Infrastructure Eroding Quality of Life |publisher=American Society of Civil Engineers |date=March 2005 |url=http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=108 |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615191346/http://www.asce.org/reportcard/2005/page.cfm?id=108 |archive-date=June 15, 2008 }}</ref> Investment needs are about $19 billion/year for sanitation and $14 billion/year for drinking water, totaling $33 billion/year.<ref name="Gap">{{cite web |title=The Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis; Executive Summary |publisher=EPA |date=September 2002 |url=http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/gapreport.pdf |access-date= March 25, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080523101936/http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/gapreport.pdf |archive-date= May 23, 2008}}</ref> State and local governments invested $35.1 billion in water supply and sanitation in 2008, including 16.3 billion for drinking water supply and 18.8 billion for sanitation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Table 437 – State and Local Governments—Capital Outlays 1990–2008|url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/state_local_govt_finances_employment.html|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|access-date=October 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006075456/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/state_local_govt_finances_employment.html|archive-date=October 6, 2014}}</ref>

In 2013 the ASCE rating remained at the "D" level, and a 2013 paper from Stanford University's Center for Reinventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure (ReNUWIt) describes why "water infrastructure is systemically resistant to innovation":
{{blockquote|Despite a growing sense that water will be as important a global issue as energy in the coming century, capital deployed for water resources "pales in comparison to that for renewable energy."...{{nbsp}} Only 5 percent of the $4.3 billion in [[Venture capital|VC money]] invested in the clean tech industry goes to water technologies. Federal support is also on the decline. The membranes that today enable desalinization and water reuse, for example, were the fruits of R&D undertaken during the Kennedy administration. We now spend ten times less on that research.<ref name = "grabar">{{Cite news |last=Grabar |first=Henry |title=Why Is There So Little Innovation in Water Infrastructure? | work=The Atlantic – Cities |access-date = September 19, 2013 |date=September 13, 2013 |url=http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2013/09/why-there-so-little-innovation-water-infrastructure/6883/}}</ref>}}

The Stanford paper notes that innovations occur when utilities see opportunities for "short-term benefits and immediate savings," when there are water shortages, and in [[quality of life]] situations, like [[Philadelphia]]'s "[[green infrastructure]] initiative designed to reduce combined [[Sanitary sewer overflow|sewer overflow]]."<ref name = "grabar"/>

Concerning drinking water supply, EPA estimated in 2003 that $276.8 billion would have to be invested between 2003 and 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment |publisher=EPA |year=2005 |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/needssurvey/index.html |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment Third Report to Congress |publisher=EPA |year=2005 |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/needssurvey/pdfs/2003/report_needssurvey_2003_es.pdf |access-date=March 25, 2009}}, p. 5</ref> Concerning sanitation, EPA estimated in 2007 that investment of $202.5 billion is needed over the next 20 years to control wastewater pollution. This includes $134 billion for wastewater treatment and collection, $54.8 billion for resolving unsatisfactory [[combined sewer overflow]]s and $9 billion for stormwater management.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clean Watersheds Needs Survey (CWNS) |publisher=EPA |year=2005 |url=http://www.epa.gov/cwns/ |access-date=March 25, 2009}}, p. 4.</ref> The EPA needs surveys do not capture all investment needs, in particular concerning capital replacement.<ref name="Gap" />

===Access===
In the U.S., in 2020, about 8.9 million people (about 2.68% of the population at that time) still lacked access to a household [[Improved water source|"safely managed" water sources]]. Regarding [[sanitation]], in 2020, around 5.7 million (about 1.74% of the population at that time) people did not have access to a household [[Improved sanitation|"safely managed sanitation" system]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://washwatch.org/en/countries/united-states-of-america/summary/statistics/|title=WASHwatch.org – United States of America|website=washwatch.org|language=en|access-date=March 27, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=WHO UNICEF JMP|url=https://washdata.org/data/household#!/|access-date=January 27, 2022|website=washdata.org}}</ref> More than 99% of the U.S. population has access to "complete plumbing facilities" which is defined as having hot and cold piped water, a bathtub or shower, and a flush toilet.

However, more than 1.6 million people in the United States, in 630,000 households, still lacked basic plumbing facilities as of 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ingraham |first=Christopher |date=April 23, 2014 |title=1.6 million Americans don't have indoor plumbing. Here's where they live |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/04/23/1-6-million-americans-dont-have-indoor-plumbing-heres-where-they-live/ |newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> This includes access to a toilet, shower, or running water. Of the millions who lack access to clean water, the majority are low-income individuals who are people of color, belong to tribal communities, and/or are immigrants.<ref name="Patel 2020">{{Cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=Anisha I |last2=Hecht |first2=Christina E. |last3=Cradock |first3=Angie |last4=Edwards |first4=Marc A. |last5=Ritchie |first5=Lorrene D. |date=September 23, 2020 |title=Drinking Water in the United States: Implications of Water Safety, Access, and Consumption |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-nutr-122319-035707 |journal=Annual Review of Nutrition |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=345–373 |doi=10.1146/annurev-nutr-122319-035707 |pmid=32966189 |s2cid=221886745 |issn=0199-9885}}</ref> These groups often live in rural areas which are more susceptible to water quality violations than urban areas.<ref name="Patel 2020" /> Many of these violations are due to poor-quality sources of water and the lack of resources to maintain the current water infrastructure regulations.<ref name="Patel 2020" /> These violations are heightened in low-income minority communities because these communities were often disregarded when it came to drafting regulations and creating new infrastructure.<ref name="Gasteyer 2016" /> A 2017 study utilized data from the Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and discovered that a significant amount of water quality violations were associated with higher Hispanic and Black populations. In addition, low income people of color experienced more violations than low income White, non-Hispanic communities.<ref name="Switzer 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Switzer |first1=David |last2=Teodoro |first2=Manuel P .|date=2017 |title=The Color of Drinking Water: Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5942/jawwa.2017.109.0128 |journal=Journal AWWA |volume=109 |issue=9 |pages=40–45 |doi=10.5942/jawwa.2017.109.0128 |s2cid=116629840 |issn=1551-8833}}</ref>

In results from the [[American Community Survey]] (ACS), race was established as the biggest factor in determining people's access to clean water. In the United States, 0.3 percent of White households lack complete plumbing. When looking at this same variable under different ethnic groups, 0.5 percent of African-American and Latino households and 5.8 percent of Native-American households lack complete plumbing. The ACS highlights the disparities in access to clean water that come alongside different racial and ethnic groups.<ref name="US Water Alliance 2019">{{Cite web|date=November 21, 2019|title=US Water Alliance and Partners Release "Closing The Water Gap in the United States"|url=http://uswateralliance.org/resources/blog/us-water-alliance-and-partners-release-closing-water-gap-united-states|publisher=US Water Alliance|location=Oakland, CA}}</ref>

These disparities in access to clean water are most pronounced when viewing certain minority groups that are also poor. The previous 2017 SDWIS study examined the number of violations reported when looking at different ethnic groups and their level of poverty. When looking at communities where 10% were below the poverty line, an increase from 0% to 80% of the population being Hispanic resulted in a change in the number of violations reported from 0.10 to 0.11. However, when looking at communities where 40% were below the poverty line, the same increase in the Hispanic population resulted in a change from 0.09 to 0.17. This study concluded that these ethnic disparities in access to clean water are prominent when incorporating low-income communities as well.<ref name="Switzer 2017"/>

==== Historical causes of limited access to water ====
As a direct result of [[structural racism]] as well as [[Environmental Racism in the United States|environmental racism]], there has been this systemic failure to provide equal resources and services to all Americans regardless of their race or income. Individuals do not choose to have incomplete plumbing, but rather, it is a result of government policy that intentionally excluded those communities. In the 1930s, the U.S. government relocated many American Indians to rural and isolated areas. These areas lacked the resources to not only create proper water infrastructure but also employ proper sanitation techniques. In addition to this mistreatment, the passing of new laws and regulations made it difficult for Native Americans to voice their concerns which only furthered their decay regarding their access to clean water.<ref name="Gasteyer 2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Gasteyer |first1=Stephen P. |last2=Lai |first2=Jennifer |last3=Tucker |first3=Brittany |last4=Carrera |first4=Jennifer |last5=Moss |first5=Julius |date=2016 |title=Basics Inequality: Race and Access to Complete Plumbing Facilities in the United States |journal=Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=305–325 |doi=10.1017/S1742058X16000242 |s2cid=148728426 |issn=1742-058X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In 1954, the city of [[Zanesville, Ohio]] discriminated against African American residents by limiting their access to water lines.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flushed and Forgotten: Sanitation and Wastewater in Rural Communities in the US |url=http://www.humanrightscolumbia.org/news/flushed-and-forgotten-sanitation-and-wastewater-rural-communities-us |access-date=October 26, 2021 |publisher=Institute for the Study of Human Rights}}</ref> When constructing these water lines, the city specifically ignored entire neighborhoods that were home to African-Americans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Neumeyer |first1=Hannah |last2=Van de Lande |first2=Laura |date=2014 |title=The importance of words: why equality should be key in water and sanitation service provision |journal=Waterlines |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=295–30 4|doi=10.3362/1756-3488.2014.031 |jstor=24688155 |issn=0262-8104}}</ref> This incident highlights the discrimination that many disadvantaged communities faced that prevented their access to clean water.

Between 1950 and 2000, several water infrastructure initiatives were debuted in California, but they were exclusive in the communities that they protected. During this time period, California took measures to prevent the integration of the Hispanic/Latino community which resulted in the lack of consideration when crafting certain infrastructure. These communities were not accounted for and had to resort to decentralized water sources and poor sanitation techniques. The lack of inclusion of certain groups in California in water policy contributed to the overall deterioration of these regions.<ref>{{Cite web |website=International Human Rights Law Clinic |publisher=University of California, Berkeley School of Law |date=October 7, 2014 |title=United States Government Consultation on Environmental Issues Relating to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review: A Summary |url=https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/UPR_Enviro_Consultation_Outcome_Doc_141208.pdf }}</ref>

When examining specific aspects of water policy, the majority tends to focus on protecting drinking water from over extraction by businesses for commercial purposes rather than outlining local requirements for drinking water. While the rest of the United States began to benefit from closer accessibility to water, these specific communities were ignored, evident through the creation of new laws and regulations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Patricia A. |journal=Proceedings of the Asil Annual Meeting |date=2012 |title=Complexity of Protections and Barriers in the Implementation of the Human Right to Water in the United States |volume=106 |pages=46–49 |doi=10.5305/procannmeetasil.106.0046 |jstor=10.5305/procannmeetasil.106.0046 |s2cid=152830364 |issn=0272-5037}}</ref>

===== Affected regions across the United States =====
Today, there are still communities around the United States that do not have access to clean water. While some regions have developed alternatives to deal with this inaccessibility, others are still struggling with this issue.<ref name="US Water Alliance 2019"/>
[[File:Signage describing Poor Water Quality.jpg|thumb|Signage describing poor water quality]]

In [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley, California]], residents claim that water is their biggest issue threatening their security and survival. Although they have water that is accessible, it is extremely contaminated therefore residents are forced to travel long distances to acquire suitable drinking water. There is a high cost that comes with attaining potable water which is why many in Central Valley have had no choice other than to relocate to different regions. Regarding the demographics of Central Valley, the population is a combination of migrants that settled in the 1900s. These migrants were Black, Latino, and Asian and the majority were low-income. This initial establishment set the tone for the current state of Central Valley today.<ref name="Pannu 2012">{{Cite journal |last=Pannu |first=Camille |date=2012 |title=Drinking Water and Exclusion: A Case Study from California's Central Valley |journal=California Law Review |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=223–268 |jstor=41346406 |issn=0008-1221}}</ref> More than 50% of all drinking water violations that are reported in California come from the Central Valley.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Vanderwarker|first=Amy|date=2009|title=Central Valley Water Woes |journal=Race, Poverty & the Environment |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=72–74 |jstor=41555183 |issn=1532-2874}}</ref> In 2006, it was discovered that 20% of the public water in Central Valley violated the state's maximum contamination level. As a result, many are exposed to higher rates of [[nitrate]] which can damage one's reproductive ability or even increase the likelihood of birth defects and miscarriages. In addition, [[coliform bacteria]] and other bacterial contaminants can be found in the public water and are responsible for a number of waterborne diseases. This situation is a direct result of these communities being continuously disregarded when it comes to the implementation of policy. The combination of racial discrimination and poverty can be credited to the ongoing water crisis in Central Valley.<ref name="Pannu 2012" />

In the [[Southern United States|American South]], many experience issues with wastewater, specifically due to the development of contamination sites and hazardous waste sites.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Colquette |first1=Kelly Michele |last2=Robertson |first2=Elizabeth A. Henry |date=1991 |title=Environmental Racism: The Causes, Consequences, and Commendations |journal=Tulane Environmental Law Journal |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=153–207 |jstor=43291103 |issn=1047-6857}}</ref> Spanning all the way from Delaware to Texas, the southern "[[Black Belt in the American South|blackbelt]]" is  54% Black.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bullard |first=Robert D. |date=2008 |title=Differential Vulnerabilities: Environmental and Economic Inequality and Government Response to Unnatural Disasters|journal=Social Research |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=753–784 |jstor=40972088 |issn=0037-783X}}</ref> These residents lack proper plumbing systems and access to proper sanitation. These contamination sites are often placed around communities that are composed of minorities, specifically Black and Hispanic individuals. In 1983 the [[Government Accountability Office]] (formerly the General Accounting Office) published a study examining the relationship between the location of hazardous waste sites and the racial and economic status of the surrounding residents. It was discovered that race was the greatest predictor of the location of a contamination site. Close proximity to toxic landfills and long term exposure to wastewater results in a myriad of health implications.<ref>{{cite report |title=Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities |url=https://www.gao.gov/products/rced-83-168 |date=June 1, 1983 |publisher=U.S. General Accounting Office |location=Washington, D.C. |id=RCED-83-168}}</ref> A 2017 study performed by [[Baylor College of Medicine]] examined the development of parasites in [[Lowndes County, Alabama]] — a region where 73% of its residents are Black and 31.4% of residents live below the poverty line.<ref name="McKenna 2017">{{Cite journal |last1=McKenna |first1=Megan |last2=McAtee |first2=Shannon |last3=Hotez |first3=Peter |last4=Bryan |first4=Patricia |last5=Jeun |first5=Rebecca |last6=Bottazzi |first6=Maria |last7=Flowers |first7=Catherine |last8=Ward |first8=Tabitha |last9=Kraus |first9=Jacob |last10=Mejia |first10=Rojelio |date=September 5, 2017 |title=Human Intestinal Parasite Burden and Poor Sanitation in Rural Alabama |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319560051 |journal=The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene |volume=97 |issue=5 |pages=1623–1628 |pmid=29016326 | doi=10.4269/ajtmh.17-0396|pmc=5817782 }}</ref><ref name="US Water Alliance 2019"/> It was discovered that 34.5% of individuals living in this high-risk environment tested positive for [[hookworm]], a parasite linked to wastewater. In addition, 73% of the participants in the study reported exposure to raw sewage inside of their homes. The establishment of contamination sites is directly linked to the location of certain racial groups, emphasizing how the accessibility of clean water disproportionately affects people of color.<ref name="McKenna 2017" />

In [[Flint, Michigan]], residents consumed drinking water that contained high amounts of [[lead]] which resulted in a variety of negative health effects.<ref name="Callihan 2017">{{Cite journal |last=Callihan |first=Amanda |date=2017 |title=The Drinking Water Supply Crisis in Flint, Michigan: What It Exposes About Enforcement of Water Supply Law and Public Health in the United States |journal=Tulane Environmental Law Journal |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=303–321 |jstor=90008699 |issn=1047-6857}}</ref> The city of Flint is composed of low income African Americans who experienced a shift in their water supply due to financial limitations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Banzhaf |first1=Spencer |last2=Ma |first2=Lala |last3=Timmins |first3=Christopher |date=2019 |title=Environmental Justice: The Economics of Race, Place, and Pollution |journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=185–208 |doi=10.1257/jep.33.1.185 |jstor=26566983 |pmid=30707005 |s2cid=73414940 |issn=0895-3309|doi-access=free }}</ref> Their water supply was switched from the City of Detroit's Huron Water Supply to water from the Flint River in 2014. A group of researchers at [[Virginia Tech]] discovered that the water in the Flint River was highly corrosive due to the inflated levels of lead found in the water. The decision to switch water sources was made on the state level and completely disregarded the potential impacts it could have had on the communities living in Flint, Michigan.<ref name="Callihan 2017" /> Residents argue that this issue was a result of Michigan's economic history and political decision-making that often left Flint in the dark. The water crisis in Flint highlights the racial disparities that are evident when examining certain regions' access to clean water.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gaber |first=Nadia |date=2019 |title=Mobilizing Health Metrics for the Human Right to Water in Flint and Detroit, Michigan |journal=Health and Human Rights |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=179–190 |jstor=26727083 |pmid=31239625 |pmc=6586960 |issn=1079-0969}}</ref>

==== Federal spending on water accessibility ====
Since the late twentieth century, there has been a shift in money and resources allocated towards funding new water infrastructure. As of 2000, [[federal funding]] for water accessibility had dropped nearly 70% since the 1980s.<ref name="Fuhs 2000">{{Cite journal |last=Fuhs |first=Greg |date=2000 |title=Water, Wastewater Infrastructure Need Federal Funding Infusion |journal=Water Environment & Technology |volume=12 |issue=5 |page=22 |jstor=24668328 |issn=1044-9493}}</ref> In addition, federal spending declined from $76 per person in 1977 to just $11 per person in 2014. The responsibility of funding water and sanitation projects has moved from the federal government to local governments. While this method may be sustainable for a large majority of communities, groups that are located in impoverished areas do not have the financial resources to embark on large water projects. In the last several years, local and state governments have been forced to increase their spending to compensate for the withdrawal of federal funds.<ref name="Benefits">{{Cite web |title=The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure |date=August 26, 2020 |url=https://www.infrastructureusa.org/the-economic-benefits-of-investing-in-water-infrastructure-2/|access-date=October 26, 2021 |publisher=Infrastructure USA (Supported by FJC, a Foundation of Philanthropic Funds) |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

The main reason for this redistribution of money is due to the federal government's shift in focus onto other projects such as transportation, research, and education.<ref name="Fuhs 2000"/> In 2008 the [[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]] performed a study and determined that in order for New York to maintain and update current water infrastructure, it would require $36.2 billion, a number much greater than the EPA's estimate of $21.8 billion.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 28, 2008 |title=States Say Water Infrastructure Needs Far Exceed EPA Estimates |journal=Inside EPA's Water Policy Report |volume=17 |issue=9 |pages=4–5 |jstor=26830179 |issn=2164-7895}}</ref> By reallocating funds to meet water infrastructure needs, the estimated gain in annual economic activity would be above $220 billion and improve the accessibility of water for many.<ref name="Benefits"/>

With low income minority communities already being disproportionately affected by water access issues, the cut in federal spending only furthers the disparities that these groups face. These communities lack the resources to solve this issue on their own and look towards the federal government for assistance. However, their lack of involvement and general disregard for these communities leads to the continuation of their troubles.<ref name="Benefits"/>

===Pricing and affordability===
[[File:Water meter 2006.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Water meter]]s are a prerequisite for accurate, volumetric billing of water users]]
The median household in the U.S. spent about 1.1% of its income on water and sewerage in 2002. However, poor households face a different situation: In 1997 18% of U.S. households, many of them poor, paid more than 4% of their income on their water and sewer bill.<ref>{{cite web |title=Clean & Safe Water for the 21st Century |publisher=Water Infrastructure Network |year=2000 |url=http://www.win-water.org/reports/winreport2000.pdf |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004609/http://www.win-water.org/reports/winreport2000.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref>

The mean U.S. [[water tariff]] – excluding sewer tariffs – was $2.72 per 1,000 gallons ($0.72 per cubic meter) in 2000,<ref name="Environmental Protection Agency">{{cite report |title=Community Water System Survey 2000, Vol. 1 |publisher=EPA |date=December 2002 |url=http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/consumer/pdf/cwss_2000_volume_i.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|29}} with significant variations between localities. Average residential water tariffs for a monthly consumption of 15 cubic meters varied between $0.35 per cubic meter in Chicago and $3.01 in Atlanta in 2007. The combined water and sewer tariff was $0.64 in Chicago and $3.01 in Atlanta, with Atlanta not charging separately for sewer services.<ref>{{cite web |author=Global Water Intelligence/OECD |title = GWI/OECD Water Tariff Survey 2007 |year=2007 |url=http://www.globalwaterintel.com/survey2007.xls |format=XLS |access-date=April 1, 2009}}</ref> Annual combined water and sewer bills vary between $228 in [[Chicago]] and $1,476 in [[Atlanta]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |author=Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department |title=Rate Comparison |url=http://www.metro-dade.com/wasd/rate-compare.asp |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720091735/http://www.metro-dade.com/wasd/rate-compare.asp |archive-date=July 20, 2008  }} Bills have been converted from monthly to annual values.</ref> For purposes of comparison, the average water and sewer bill in [[Water supply and sanitation in England|England and Wales]] in 2008 was equivalent to $466.<ref>According to {{cite web |date=June 2008 |title=Water industry facts and figures |url=http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulating/prs_lft_factsandfigs.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004609/http://www.ofwat.gov.uk/regulating/prs_lft_factsandfigs.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |access-date=March 25, 2009 |publisher=Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT)}}, the average household bill in 2008–09 for water and sewerage in England and Wales was £330, corresponding to $466 at the exchange rate of 1 Pound Sterling = US$1.4138, [http://www.oanda.com/]</ref>

The average annual increase in typical residential water bills was approximately 5.3 percent from 2001 through 2009, while the increase in typical residential sewer bills was approximately 5.5 percent according to data from the 50 Largest Cities Water and Wastewater Rate Survey by [[Black & Veatch]].<ref name=BV>Black & Veatch, [http://www.bv.com/Downloads/Resources/Brochures/rsrc_EMS_Top50RateSurvey.pdf 50 Largest Cities Water/Wastewater Rate Survey 2009–2010] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810013631/http://www.bv.com/Downloads/Resources/Brochures/rsrc_EMS_Top50RateSurvey.pdf |date=August 10, 2010}}</ref>

===Retiring workforce===
The water community in the US is faced with a swiftly retiring workforce and a tightening market place for new workers. In 2008, approximately one third of executives and managers were expected to retire in the following five years.<ref name="Gary Zimmerman p. 34">Gary Zimmerman, Executive Director of AWWA in {{cite book |title=2008 Yearbook |publisher=International Water Association |page=34 }}</ref> Water and sanitation utilities in the United States had 41,922 employees in 2002.<ref name="quarterhorse.dsd.census.gov">{{cite web |title=Water, sewage and other systems |publisher=United States Census Bureau |url=http://quarterhorse.dsd.census.gov/TheDataWeb_HotReport/servlet/HotReportEngineServlet?emailname=bh@boc&filename=rev3.hrml&20071127090603.Var.NAICS2002=2213forward=20071127090603.Var.NAICS2002 |access-date=March 25, 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Fluoridation===
{{main|Water fluoridation in the United States}}
[[Water fluoridation]], the controlled addition of moderate concentrations of [[fluoride]] to a [[public water supply]] to reduce [[tooth decay]], is used for about two-thirds of the U.S. population on public water systems.<ref name=Ripa>{{cite journal |author=Ripa LW |title=A half-century of community water fluoridation in the United States: review and commentary |journal=Journal of Public Health Dentistry |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=17–44 |year=1993 |pmid=8474047 |url=http://aaphd.org/docs/position%20papers/A%20Half-Century%20of%20Community%20Water1993.pdf |access-date=January 1, 2009 |doi=10.1111/j.1752-7325.1993.tb02666.x  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304021822/http://aaphd.org/docs/position%20papers/A%20Half-Century%20of%20Community%20Water1993.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2009 }}</ref> Almost all major public health and dental organizations support water fluoridation, or consider it safe.<ref name=Armfield>{{cite journal |author= Armfield JM |title=When public action undermines public health: A critical examination of antifluoridationist literature |journal= Australia and New Zealand Health Policy |volume=4 |issue= 1 |page=25 |year=2007 |pmid=18067684 |pmc=2222595 |doi=10.1186/1743-8462-4-25 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Nevertheless, it is contentious for ethical, safety, and efficacy reasons.<ref>See [[Opposition to water fluoridation]]</ref>

==Responses to address issues==
===Supply-side management===
Historically the predominant response to increasing water demand in the U.S. has been to tap into ever more distant sources of conventional water supply, in particular rivers. Because of environmental concerns and limitations in the availability of water resources, including droughts that may be due to climate change, this approach now is in many cases not feasible any more. Still, supply-side management is often being pursued tapping into non-conventional water resources, in particular seawater desalination in coastal areas with high population growth. California alone had plans to build 21 desalination plants in 2006 with a total capacity of {{convert|450|e6USgal|m3}} per day, which would represent a massive 70-fold increase over current seawater desalination capacity in the state.<ref>{{cite web |title=California Needs to Move Cautiously on Desalination. Economic, Environmental, and Social Costs Still Outweigh Technological Gains |publisher=Pacific Institute |date=June 2006 |url=http://www.pacinst.org/reports/desalination/20060627.html |access-date=March 25, 2009 |archive-date=November 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108133628/http://www.pacinst.org/reports/desalination/20060627.html  }}</ref> In 2007 the largest desalination plant in the United States is the one at [[Tampa Bay]], Florida, which began desalinating {{convert|25|e6USgal|m3}} of water per day in December 2007.<ref>{{cite news |title=Applause, At Last, For Desalination Plant |work=The Tampa Tribune |date=December 22, 2007 |url=http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/22/na-applause-at-last-for-desalination-plant/ |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113204809/http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/22/na-applause-at-last-for-desalination-plant/ |archive-date=January 13, 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Industrial water as a share of total water withdrawals, OWID.svg|thumb|industrial water as a share of total water withdrawals]]
In 2005 over 2,000 desalination plants with a capacity of more than 100m3/day had been installed or contracted in every state in the U.S. with a total capacity of more than 6 million m3/day. Only 7% of that capacity was for seawater desalination, while 51% used brackish water and 26%  used river water as water source.<ref name="Gleick">{{cite book |last1=Gleick |first1=Peter H.
|first2=Heather |last2=Cooley |first3=David |last3=Katz |first4=Emily |last4=Lee |first5=Jason |last5=Morrison |title=The World's Water 2006–2007: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources |publisher=Island Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59726-106-7 |pages=58–59, 368}}</ref> The contracted capacity corresponds to 2.4% of total municipal and industrial water use in the country in 2000.<ref name="Withdrawal">{{cite web |title= Table 354. U.S. Water Withdrawals Per Day by End Use: 1940 to 2000 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0354.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304021820/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/09s0354.pdf  |archive-date = March 4, 2009 |access-date=March 25, 2009}} According to that source total municipal and industrial water use in 2000 was {{convert|66|e9USgal|m3}} per day.</ref> The actual share of desalinated water is lower, because some of the contracted capacity was never built or never operated, was closed down or is not operated at full capacity.<ref name="Gleick" />

In 2017, the U.S. Global Water Strategy was passed, where the U.S. Government will work with countries in order to achieve four objective: increase access to safe drinking water, while promoting hygienes and sanitation services, protect freshwater resources, promote cooperation on shared waters, and strengthen water financing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usaid.gov/what-we-do/water-and-sanitation/us-global-water-strategy|title=U.S. Global Water Strategy|date=October 21, 2019|website=www.usaid.gov|language=en|access-date=March 28, 2020}}</ref>

===Demand-side management===
Demand-side management, including the reduction of leakage in the distribution network and [[water conservation]], are other options that are being considered and, in some cases, also applied to address water scarcity. For example, [[Seattle]] has reduced per capita water use from {{convert|152|USgal|L}} per day in 1990 to {{convert|97|USgal|L}} per day in 2007 through a comprehensive water conservation program including pricing policies, education, regulations and rebates for water-saving appliances. Other cities such as Atlanta and Las Vegas have also launched water conservation programs that are somewhat less comprehensive than the one in Seattle concerning indoor water use. However, Las Vegas has intentionally focused on curbing outdoor water demand, which accounts for 70% of residential water use in the city, through reductions in turf area and incentives for the use of rains sensors, irrigation controllers and pool covers.<ref name="Cooley" /> At the federal level, the [[Energy Policy Act of 1992]] set standards for water-efficient appliances, replacing the {{convert|3.5|USgal|L}} per flush (gpf) toilet with a new 1.6 gpf/6 litres per flush maximum standard for all new toilets.
By 1994, federal law mandated that showerheads and faucets sold in the U.S. release no more than 2.5 and {{convert|2.2|USgal|L}} of water per minute respectively.<ref>City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power:[http://www.planning.lacity.org/eir/LoyolaMarymountUniv/DEIR/IV%20L%201%20Water%20Supply.pdf]. Retrieved July 17, 2014.</ref> Also in 1994 the [[American Water Works Association|AWWA]] established a clearinghouse for water conservation, efficiency, and demand management, called WaterWiser, to assist water conservation professionals and the general public in using water more efficiently.<ref>[[American Water Works Association]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20090417054933/http://www.awwa.org/Resources/Waterwiser.cfm?ItemNumber=32397&navItemNumber=3341 About the WaterWiser Clearinghouse]. Retrieved April 16, 2009.</ref> In 2006 the EPA launched its [[WaterSense]] program to encourage [[water efficiency]] beyond the standards set by the Energy Policy Act through the use of a special label on consumer products.<ref>{{cite web  |title=National Efficiency Standards and Specifications for Residential and Commercial Water-Using Fixtures and Appliances |publisher=EPA |year= 2006 |url=http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/matrix508.pdf |access-date=April 4, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WaterSense |publisher=EPA |year=2006 |url=http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/ |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> The Obama administration further tightened the 2.5-gallons-per-minute rule so that fixtures with multiple showerheads could only use that amount collectively. The Trump administration loosened that part of the rule to consider each showerhead individually. In 2021, the Biden administration proposed restoring the Obama version.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Holmes|first=Kristen|date=July 16, 2021|title=Biden administration moves to reverse Trump-era showerhead rule {{!}} CNN Politics|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/16/politics/shower-head-rules-biden-trump/index.html|access-date=July 16, 2021|website=CNN|language=en}}</ref>

Distributional losses in the U.S. are typically 10–15% of total withdrawals, although they can exceed 25% of total water use in older systems.<ref name="Cooley">Heather Cooley and [[Peter Gleick]]:Urban Water-Use Efficiencies:Lessons from United States Citites, in: Peter H. Gleick:The World's Water 2008–2009 – The Biennial Report of Freshwater Resources, Island Press, 2009, {{ISBN|1-59726-504-7}}</ref>
According to another source [[unaccounted-for water]] (UFW) – which includes system losses, water used for firefighting and water used in the treatment process – was estimated to be only 8% in systems with more than 500,000 connections in 2000.<ref>{{cite report |title=Community Water System Survey 2000, Vol. 2 |publisher= United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) |location=Washington, D.C. |date=December 2002 |url=http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw/consumer/pdf/cwss_2000_volume_ii.pdf}}</ref>{{rp|17}} In comparison, the level of water losses is 7% in Germany, 19% in England and Wales, and 26% in France. Together with Germany water losses in the U.S. are thus among the lowest in 16 industrial countries.<ref>[http://www.bdew.de/bdew.nsf/id/DE_Profile_of_the_German_Water_Industry/$file/Profile_German_Water_Industry_2008.pdf Profile of the German Water Industry 2008], p. 40</ref>

Low water tariffs and inappropriate tariff structures do not encourage water conservation. For example, decreasing-block rates, under which the unit rate decreases with consumption, offer hardly any incentive for water conservation. In 2000 about 51% of water tariffs in the U.S.were uniform (i.e. the unit tariff is independent of the level of consumption), 12% were increasing-block tariffs (the unit rate increases with consumption) and 19% were decreasing-block tariffs.<ref name="Environmental Protection Agency" /> The use of decreasing-block tariffs declined sharply from 45% of all tariff structures in 1992.<ref name="Whittington">{{cite web |last1=Whittington |first1=Dale |first2 = John |last2=Boland |title=Reflections on Water Pricing and Tariff Design |date=April 2001 |url=http://web.mit.edu/urbanupgrading/waterandsanitation/resources/powerpoint/DaleWhittingtonMumbaiApril3.ppt |format=ppt |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> Sewer rates are often flat rates that are not linked to consumption, thus offering no incentive to conserve water.<ref name="Cooley" />

===Water reuse===
Reuse of [[reclaimed water]] is an increasingly common response to water scarcity in many parts of the United States. Reclaimed water is being reused directly for various non-potable uses in the United States, including urban landscape irrigation of parks, school yards, highway medians and golf courses; fire protection; commercial uses such as vehicle washing; industrial reuse such as cooling water, boiler water and process water; environmental and recreational uses such as the creation or restoration of wetlands; as well as agricultural irrigation.<ref name="NARUC" /> In some cases, such as in Irvine Ranch Water District in [[Orange County, California|Orange County]], it is also used for flushing toilets.<ref>{{cite web
  | author = Irvine Ranch Water District
  | title = Water Reclamation
  | url = http://www.irwd.com/Reclamation/index.php
  | access-date = March 25, 2009
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080604224603/http://www.irwd.com/Reclamation/index.php
  | archive-date = June 4, 2008
}}</ref>

It was estimated that in 2002 a total of {{convert|1.7|e9USgal|m3}} per day, or almost 3% of public water supply, were being directly reused. California reused 0.6 and Florida {{convert|0.5|e9USgal|m3}} per day respectively. Twenty-five states had regulations regarding the use of reclaimed water in 2002.<ref name="NARUC">{{cite web
 |last        = LeChevallier
 |first       = Mark W., Ph.D.
 |title       = Overview of Water Reuse Technology: Pricing Considerations Related To Reclaimed Water
 |url         = http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/LeChevallier%20NARUC%20Reuse%20Presentation.ppt
 |format      = PPT
 |access-date  = March 25, 2009
 
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090318214415/http://www.narucmeetings.org/Presentations/LeChevallier%20NARUC%20Reuse%20Presentation.ppt
 |archive-date = March 18, 2009
}}</ref> Planned direct reuse of reclaimed water was initiated in 1932 with the construction of a reclaimed water facility at San Francisco's [[Golden Gate Park]]. Reclaimed water is typically distributed with a color-coded [[dual piping]] network that keeps reclaimed water pipes completely separate from potable water pipes.<ref>{{cite web
  | author = The City of San Diego. Water Department
  | title = Rules and Regulations for Recycled Water
  | url = http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recycled/regs.shtml
  | access-date = March 25, 2009
  | archive-date = May 28, 2009
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090528194422/http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recycled/regs.shtml
  
  }}</ref>

The leaders in use of reclaimed water in the U.S. are [[Florida]] and California,<ref>[http://news.ufl.edu/2000/05/24/water/ UF Professor: Drought Highlights Value Of Reused Water] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060907013345/http://news.ufl.edu/2000/05/24/water/ |date=September 7, 2006 }}. [[University of Florida]] News. May 24, 2000.</ref> with Irvine Ranch Water District as one of the leading developers. They were the first district to approve the use of reclaimed water for in-building piping and use in flushing toilets. In places like Florida, where it is necessary to avoid nutrient overload of sensitive receiving water, reuse of treated or reclaimed water can be more economically feasible than meeting the higher standards for surface water disposal mandated by the Clean Water Act.<ref name="Sierra">[http://www.Sierraclub.org/clearwater/reports_factsheets/factsheet_bush_water_agenda.pdf Sierra Club Fact Sheet] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611163735/http://www.sierraclub.org/clearwater/reports_factsheets/factsheet_bush_water_agenda.pdf |date=June 11, 2011 }}</ref>

In a January 2012 U.S. National Research Council report,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dels.nas.edu/Report/Water-Reuse-Potential-Expanding/13303/|title=Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater (2012): Division on Earth and Life Studies|access-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> a committee of independent experts found that expanding the reuse of municipal wastewater for irrigation, industrial uses, and drinking water augmentation could significantly increase the United States' total available water resources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dels.nas.edu/Materials/Report-In-Brief/4307-Water-Reuse|title=Division on Earth and Life Studies|access-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> The committee noted that a portfolio of treatment options is available to mitigate water quality issues in reclaimed water. The report also includes a risk analysis that suggests the risk of exposure to certain microbial and chemical contaminants from drinking reclaimed water is not any higher than the risk from drinking water from current water treatment systems—and in some cases, may be orders of magnitude lower. The report concludes that adjustments to the federal regulatory framework could enhance public health protection and increase public confidence in [[water reuse]].

There are examples of communities that have safely used recycled water for many years. [[Los Angeles County]]'s sanitation districts have provided treated wastewater for landscape irrigation in parks and golf courses since 1929.  The first reclaimed water facility in [[California]] was built at [[San Francisco]]'s [[Golden Gate Park]] in 1932.  The Water Replenishment District of Southern California was the first groundwater agency to obtain permitted use of recycled water for [[groundwater recharge]] in 1962.

[[Orange County, California|Orange County]] is located in Southern California, USA, and houses a classic example in indirect potable reuse.<ref name="Effluent">{{cite web|title=Remaking waste as water: The governance of recycled effluent for potable water supply|url=http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/volume6/v6issue1/199-a6-1-4/file|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref> A large-scale artificial groundwater recharge scheme exists in the area, providing a much-needed freshwater barrier to intruding seawater.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wehner|first=Mike|date=May 23, 2010|title=Orange County's groundwater replenishment system: Potable reuse for the best available water|url=http://www.watereuse.org/files/s/docs/OCWD_Tampa_Potable_Reuse_Workshop.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916185802/http://www.watereuse.org/files/s/docs/OCWD_Tampa_Potable_Reuse_Workshop.pdf|archive-date=September 16, 2013|access-date=September 3, 2019|website=WateReuse|publisher=[[WateReuse]]}}</ref> Part of the injected water consists of recycled water, which started in 1976 with Water Factory 21, which used RO and high lime to clean the water (production capacity of 19,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day).<ref>{{cite web|title=Advanced reuse: from Windhoek to Singapore and beyond, Water|url=http://www.wastewater.co.za/images/files/Advanced_reuse_Whk_to_Singapore_Water_May_2003.pdf|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref> This plant was decommissioned in 2004 and has since made place for a new project with a higher capacity (265,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day with an ultimate capacity of 492,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day), under the name of Groundwater Replenishment System.<ref name="Effluent" />

The [[Irvine Ranch Water District]] (IRWD) was the first water district in California to receive an unrestricted use permit from the state for its recycled water; such a permit means that water can be used for any purpose except drinking. IRWD maintains one of the largest recycled water systems in the nation with more than 400 miles serving more than 4,500 metered connections. The Irvine Ranch Water District and [[Orange County Water District]] in [[Southern California]] are established leaders in recycled water. Further, the Orange County Water District, located in [[Orange County, California|Orange County]], water is given more advanced treatments and is used indirectly for drinking.<ref>[http://www.pub.gov.sg/NEWater_files/faq/index.html NEWater FAQ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410020839/http://www.pub.gov.sg/NEWater_files/faq/index.html |date=April 10, 2007 }}, accessed January 8, 2007; [http://www.gwrsystem.com/the-process/water-delivery Orange County Water District's Groundwater Replenishment System], accessed September 9, 2011</ref>

The [[Trinity River (Texas)|Trinity River]] in Texas is a representative example of an effluent-dominated surface water system where de facto potable [[water reuse]] occurs. The section of the river south of [[Dallas/Fort Worth]] consists almost entirely of wastewater effluent under base flow conditions. In response to concerns about [[nutrients]], the wastewater treatment plants in Dallas/Fort Worth that collectively discharge about 2 million m<sup>3</sup> per day of effluent employ nutrient removal processes. Little dilution of the effluent-dominated waters occurs as the water travels from Dallas/Fort Worth to Lake Livingston, which is one of the main drinking [[water reservoir]]s for Houston. Once the water reaches [[Lake Livingston]], it is subjected to conventional drinking water treatment prior to delivery to consumers in Houston.<ref>{{cite book|title=Water Reuse: Potential for Expanding the Nation's Water Supply Through Reuse of Municipal Wastewater|date=January 10, 2012|doi=10.17226/13303|last1=Council|first1=National Research|isbn=978-0-309-25749-7}}</ref>

====Non-potable reuse (NPR)====
* [[Austin, Texas]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/wri/|title=Search Results - AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin|access-date=March 12, 2016|archive-date=May 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505214716/http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/wri/}}</ref>
* [[Clark County, Nevada]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cleanwaterteam.com/waterreclamation.html |title=Water Reclamation |access-date=March 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013073726/http://www.cleanwaterteam.com/waterreclamation.html |archive-date=October 13, 2004  }}</ref>
* [[Clearwater, Florida]]<ref>[http://www.clearwater-fl.com/gov/depts/pwa/public_utils/divisions/reclaimed/index.asp Making the Connections: Reclaimed and Drinking Water Supplies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040815001802/http://www.clearwater-fl.com/gov/depts/pwa/public_utils/divisions/reclaimed/index.asp |date=August 15, 2004 }}</ref>
* [[Contra Costa County, California]]<ref>[http://www.ddsd.org/services.html Delta Diablo Sanitation District, Eastern Contra Costa County] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070327064804/http://www.ddsd.org/services.html |date=March 27, 2007 }}</ref>
* [[San Antonio]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saws.org/Your_Water/Recycling/|title=SAWS: Water Recycling|publisher=SAWS|access-date=March 21, 2017}}</ref> operates the largest recycled water system in the United States.
* [[Tucson, Arizona]]<ref>[http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/water/reclaimed_water.htm Reclaimed Water] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050113091042/http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/water/reclaimed_water.htm |date=January 13, 2005 }}</ref>
* [[San Diego]], [[California]] ([[San Diego County]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recycled|title=Recycled Water – Public Utilities: Water|access-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref>
* [[St. Petersburg, Florida]]<ref>[http://www.stpete.org/wwwrecla.htm Water Systems Maintenance Mission Statement] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619113702/http://www.stpete.org/wwwrecla.htm |date=June 19, 2006 }}</ref>

==== Indirect potable reuse (IPR) ====
[[Orange County, California|Orange County]] is located in Southern California, USA, and houses a classic example in IPR.<ref name="water-alternatives.org"/> A large-scale artificial groundwater recharge scheme exists in the area, providing a much-needed freshwater barrier to intruding seawater.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.watereuse.org/files/s/docs/OCWD_Tampa_Potable_Reuse_Workshop.pdf |title=Orange County's Groundwater Replenishment System: Potable reuse for the best available water |access-date=July 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916185802/http://www.watereuse.org/files/s/docs/OCWD_Tampa_Potable_Reuse_Workshop.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2013 }}</ref> Part of the injected water consists of recycled water, starting as of 1976 with Water Factory 21, which used RO and high lime to clean the water (production capacity of 19,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day).<ref name="sg2003">{{cite web|url=http://www.wastewater.co.za/images/files/Advanced_reuse_Whk_to_Singapore_Water_May_2003.pdf|title=Advanced reuse: from Windhoek to Singapore and beyond, Water|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last2=Van Buynder|first2=Paul|last3=Lugg|first3=Richard|last4=Blair|first4=Palenque|last5=Devine|first5=Brian|last6=Cook|first6=Angus|last7=Weinstein|first7=Philip|date=March 17, 2009|title=Indirect Potable Reuse: A Sustainable Water Supply Alternative|journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health|volume=6|issue=3|pages=1174–1203|doi=10.3390/ijerph6031174|pmid=19440440|pmc=2672392|last1=Rodriguez|first1=Clemencia|doi-access=free}}</ref> This plant was de-commissioned in 2004 and has since made place for a new project with a higher capacity (265,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day with an ultimate capacity of 492,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day), under the name of Groundwater Replenishment System.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="water-alternatives.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/volume6/v6issue1/199-a6-1-4/file|title=Remaking waste as water: The governance of recycled effluent for potable water supply|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref> This newer scheme uses the newer technological combination of RO, MF, and ultraviolet light with hydrogen peroxide.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="sg2003" /> Plans are also underway to further increase the capacity of the system,<ref name="water-alternatives.org"/> which already provides up to 20% of the water used by the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gwrsystem.com/images/stories/pdfs/USAToday_2011-03-03.pdf|title=From toilets to tap. USA Today|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref>

In the US, [[San Diego]], California is the leading state implementing IPR. MF, RO and UV/H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> are employed prior to groundwater replenishment with the treated effluents (CDPH, 2013). In San Diego, the effort to increase the share of recycled water was rekindled with an extensive study in 2006.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> MF provides substantial removal of the dissolved effluent organic matter (dEfOM), while dEfOM reduction down to 0.5&nbsp;mg/L (in terms of TOC) is achieved through RO application. The chemical oxidation treatment (UV/H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) following the membrane steps, results in the mitigation of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), as well as in the improvement of the effluent quality with respect to its organic content.<ref>{{cite journal|last2=Michael|first2=C.|last3=Duan|first3=X.|last4=He|first4=X.|last5=Dionysiou|first5=D.D.|last6=Mills|first6=M.A.|last7=Fatta-Kassinos|first7=D.|date=June 2015|title=Dissolved effluent organic matter: Characteristics and potential implications in wastewater treatment and reuse applications|journal=Water Research|volume=77|pages=213–248|doi=10.1016/j.watres.2015.03.011|pmid=25917290|last1=Michael-Kordatou|first1=I.|bibcode=2015WatRe..77..213M |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5070331}}</ref>

The City of [[El Paso]]'s (Texas, USA) water sources include groundwater aquifers and surface water from the [[Rio Grande]]. In order to increase groundwater levels, the El Paso Water Utilities injects advanced treated reclaimed water into the aquifer. The advanced treatment facilities use two-stage powdered activated carbon (PAC), addition of lime, two-stage recarbonation, sand filtration, ozonation, granular activated carbon (GAC), and [[Water chlorination|chlorination]] for purifying the water.<ref>{{cite journal |last2=Van Buynder |first2=Paul |last3=Lugg |first3=Richard |last4=Blair |first4=Palenque |last5=Devine |first5=Brian |last6=Cook |first6=Angus |last7=Weinstein |first7=Philip |date=March 17, 2009 |title=Indirect Potable Reuse: A Sustainable Water Supply Alternative |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=1174–1203 |doi=10.3390/ijerph6031174 |pmid=19440440 |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Clemencia|pmc=2672392 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Hueco Bolson Recharge Project, which initially began in 1985, currently recharges 1,700 acre-feet per year of reclaimed water at 10 injection wells and 800 acre-feet per year at an infiltration basin for groundwater recharge.<ref name="Texas-reuse">{{cite report |url=http://www.twdb.texas.gov/innovativewater/reuse/projects/reuseadvance/doc/component_a_final.pdf |title=History of Water Reuse in Texas |date=February 2011 |publisher=Texas Water Development Board |location=Austin, TX}}</ref>

In [[Colorado]], USA, the Colorado River Municipal Water District implemented a project to capture treated municipal effluent from the City of Big Spring, and provide additional advanced treatment prior to blending into their raw surface water delivery system (2012). Advanced treatment of the municipal effluent consisted of MF, RO, and ultraviolet oxidation, producing very high quality water, which is blended with surface water from Lake E.V. Spence for distribution to their member and customer cities (production of 6,700 m<sup>3</sup> per day).<ref name="Texas-reuse"/>

Further examples:
* [[Big Spring, Texas]] indirect potable reuse program<ref name="Wichita">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/toilet-to-tap-wastewater-recycling-begins-in-wichita-falls-texas/|title="Toilet to tap" wastewater recycling begins in Texas city |date=July 10, 2014 |work=CBS News |access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Orange County, California]]<ref>[http://www.gwrsystem.com/ Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System].</ref><ref>[http://trojanuv.com/uvresources/groundwater-replenishment-system-orange-county-44 Orange County Groundwater Replenishment System Case Study] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331120016/http://trojanuv.com/uvresources/groundwater-replenishment-system-orange-county-44 |date=March 31, 2012 }}.</ref>
* [[Pasadena, California]]<ref>[http://cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/recycledwater/ City of Pasadena] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413235749/http://cityofpasadena.net/waterandpower/recycledwater/ |date=April 13, 2015 }}.</ref>
* [[Payson, Arizona]]<ref>[http://www.ci.payson.az.us/Departments/water/ResourceDevelopment/gvp-recharge.htm Green Valley Park Lakes Groundwater Recharge Project] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009121503/http://www.ci.payson.az.us/Departments/water/ResourceDevelopment/gvp-recharge.htm |date=October 9, 2006 }}.</ref>
* The Torreele project in the [[Veurne]] coastal region of Belgium, which began operating in 2002"<ref name="IWA">"Reuse of water in the EU and the Mediterranean", by Bill McCann, Water 21, Journal of the International Water Association, April 2008, p. 42-44, quoting the [http://www.aquarec.com Aquarec project]</ref>
* [[Virginia]] Occoquan Reservoir – The [[Upper Occoquan Sewage Authority]] plant discharges its highly treated output to supply roughly 20% of the inflow into the Occoquan Reservoir, which provides drinking water used by the [[Fairfax County Water Authority]] – one of the three major water providers in the [[Washington, D.C.]] metropolitan area.
* [[Windhoek]], [[Namibia]]<ref>[http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-15/recycling-sewage-drinking-water-no-big-deal-theyve-been-doing-it-namibia-50-years Recycling sewage into drinking water is no big deal. They've been doing it in Namibia for 50 years.]</ref><ref name="Kean">{{cite journal|date=Winter 2015|title=Waste Not, Want Not|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/waste-not-want-not|journal=Distillations|volume=1|issue=4|page=5|last1=Kean|first1=Sam|access-date=March 22, 2018}}</ref>
* [[Wichita Falls, Texas]] (toilet-to-tap reuse as a temporary measure during drought conditions, 2014–2015;<ref name="Wichita" /> Indirect potable use 2015)<ref name="KERA">{{cite news|url=http://keranews.org/post/wichita-falls-drops-wastewater-reuse-project|title=Wichita Falls Drops Wastewater Reuse Project|date=July 28, 2015|work=KERA News|access-date=January 3, 2017}}</ref>

==== Direct potable reuse (DPR) ====
In July 2014, the city of [[Wichita Falls]], Texas (USA), became one of the first in the United States to use treated wastewater directly in its drinking water supply (production of 45,000–60,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day). Treated wastewater is disinfected and pumped to the Cypress Water Treatment Plant where it goes through [[Clarification (water treatment)|clarification]], [[microfiltration]] (MF), [[reverse osmosis]] (RO), and [[UV Disinfection|ultraviolet light disinfection]] before being released into a holding [[lagoon]] where it is blended with lake water (50:50). The blended water goes through a seven-step conventional surface water treatment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.water360.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/J003887-Wichita-falls-fact-sheet_2.pdf|title=Recycled water for drinking: Direct potable reuse a temporary solution for Wichita Falls, Texas|access-date=July 29, 2016}}</ref>

Proposed projects:
* [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] – By 2019, the [[Los Angeles Department of Water and Power]] will build a plant to replenish their groundwater aquifer with purified water<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-07-me-water7-story.html|title=Turning L.A. wastewater to tap water|last=Connell|first=Rich|date=June 7, 2008|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> in order to deal with the shortage of rain and snow fall, restricted water imports and local [[groundwater pollution|groundwater contamination]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mayor.lacity.org/villaraigosaplan/EnergyandEnvironment/LACITY_004503.htm |title=Welcome to the Mayor's Office |access-date=December 18, 2008  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123125114/http://mayor.lacity.org/villaraigosaplan/EnergyandEnvironment/LACITY_004503.htm |archive-date=January 23, 2009 }}</ref>
* [[San Diego]], [[California]] ([[San Diego County]])<ref name="Kean" />

===Pollution control===
Numerous efforts have been undertaken in the United States to control the pollution of water resources and to make drinking water safe. The most comprehensive federal regulations and standards for the water treatment industry were implemented in the 1970s, in reaction to a huge increase in environmental concerns in the country. In 1972, Congress passed the [[Clean Water Act]] (CWA), with the unprecedented goal of eliminating all water pollution by 1985 and authorized expenditures of $24.6 billion in research and construction grants.<ref name="JUT"/> In 1974, Congress passed the [[Safe Drinking Water Act]], specifying a number of contaminants that had to be closely monitored and reported to residents should they exceed the maximum contaminant levels.<ref name="EPA-SDWA-25">{{cite report |date=December 1999 |title=25 Years of the Safe Drinking Water Act: Protecting Our Health from Source to Tap |url=https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=20001RCI.txt |publisher=EPA |id=EPA 810-K-99-004}}</ref> The CWA included substantial federal grant funding to improve sewage treatment infrastructure in the form of construction grants to local governments.

The 1987 Water Quality Act amended the CWA, replacing the sewage treatment construction grant program with a system of subsidized loans, using the [[Clean Water State Revolving Fund]] (CWSRF). The loans use a combination of 80% federal funds and 20% matching funds from states.<ref name="CWSRF-learn"/> New challenges arose, such as the need to address [[combined sewer overflow]]s for which EPA issued a policy in 1994, and which was codified into law by Congress in 2000.<ref>United States. Wet Weather Quality Act of 2000, Section 112 of Division B, {{USPL|106|554}}, December 21, 2000. Added section 402(q) to Clean Water Act, {{USC|33|1342(q)}}.</ref> In 1996 Congress established the [[Drinking Water State Revolving Fund]], in order to finance investments to improve compliance with more stringent drinking water quality standards.<ref name="SDWA1996"/>

Today cities make significant investments in the control of combined sewer overflows, including through the construction of storage facilities in the sewerage system in order to allow for the subsequent controlled release of sewage into treatment plants.

===Federal assistance===
[[File:Uscapitolindaylight.jpg|thumb|right|The [[United States Congress]] approves federal funding for water and sanitation, including through [[state revolving fund]]s.]]

One way to address the funding needs of utilities to respond to the various challenges they face without increasing the burden of water bills on users is federal financial assistance.

Centralized water and sanitation infrastructure is typically financed through utilities' own revenue or debt. Debt can be in the form of soft loans from [[state revolving fund]]s (SRF), credits from commercial Banks or – in the case of large utilities – from bonds issued directly in the capital market. In the case of water supply (i.e. excluding sanitation), 42% of investments were financed by private sector borrowing, 39% by current revenues, 13% by government loans including the Drinking Water SRF, 5% by government grants and 1% from other sources.<ref name="CWSS Finance" /> There are two SRFs: The larger [[Clean Water State Revolving Fund]], created in 1987,<ref>{{cite web |title=Clean Water State Revolving Fund 2001 progress report |publisher=EPA |date=May 2001 |url=http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/progress.pdf |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004652/http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/progress.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009}}, p. 3; 14</ref><ref name="EPS CWSRF" /><ref>{{cite web
 |title=The Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program |publisher=EPA |date=May 1999 |url=http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/cwsrf.pdf |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004632/http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/cwsrf.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> and the smaller Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, created in 1997.<ref name="EPA FAQ">{{cite web |title=Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Frequent Questions |publisher=EPA |date   = May 1999 |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf/frequentquestions.html |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511202210/http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf/frequentquestions.html |archive-date=May 11, 2009}}</ref> They receive federal and state contributions and issue bonds. In turn, they provide soft loans to utilities in their respective states, with average interest rates at 2% for up to 20 years in the case of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. In addition to the SRFs, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] provides grants, loans and loan guarantees for water supply and sanitation in small communities (those with less than 10,000 inhabitants), together with technical assistance and training.<ref>{{cite web |title=Water and Environmental Programs |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |url=http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/index.htm |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325130500/http://www.usda.gov/rus/water/index.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref>

The [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act]] of February 17, 2009, provided $4 billion for the Clean Water SRF, $2 billion for the Drinking Water SRF and, among others, $126 million for water recycling projects through the [[United States Bureau of Reclamation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Stimulus Package Provides $126 Million for Water Recycling Projects |publisher=Water Reuse Association |url=http://www.watereuse.org/about-watereuse-association |access-date=March 25, 2009}}</ref> This program exceeded previous levels of financing, since Congress approved only US$1.5 billion of federal funding for State Revolving Funds in 2008. This was much below the historical average of US$3 billion/year for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (1987–2006)<ref name="EPS CWSRF">{{cite web |title=Clean Water State Revolving Fund |publisher=EPA |url=http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/index.htm |access-date=March 25, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422151711/http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/index.htm |archive-date=April 22, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Clean Water State Revolving Fund 2007 Annual Report |publisher=EPA |url=http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/annreport-summary.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121213065133/http://www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/annreport-summary.htm  |archive-date=December 13, 2012 |access-date=March 25, 2009 }}</ref> and US$1.2 billion/year for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (1997–2005).<ref name="EPA FAQ" /> The share of federal funding for sanitation has declined from almost 50% in the early 1980s to about 20% in the early 1990s.<ref name="win-water.org">{{cite web |title=Clean & Safe Water for the 21st Century |publisher=Water Infrastructure Network |year=2000 |url=http://www.win-water.org/reports/winreport2000.pdf |access-date=February 23, 2009  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325004609/http://www.win-water.org/reports/winreport2000.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 }}, p. 2-3</ref> A May 2016 article asserted that there has been "a''' '''huge federal retreat from helping cities fund water projects," stating that overall federal spending on [[Water industry|water utilities]] "has dropped 75 percent since 1977," and that experts expect more situations like the [[Flint water crisis]] to emerge.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/05/water-funding-washington-flint-000128 |title=Is Washington creating more Flints?|last=Vinik |first=Danny |date=May 25, 2016|work=Politico |access-date=September 22, 2017}}</ref>

Congress passed the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014 (WIFIA) to provide an expanded credit program for water and wastewater infrastructure projects, with broader eligibility criteria than the previously authorized revolving funds.<ref>United States. Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act of 2014. {{USPL|113|121}}, title V, §5022. Approved June 10, 2014.</ref> Pursuant to the act, EPA established its Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center in 2015 to help local governments and municipal utilities design innovative financing mechanisms, including public-private partnerships. It is part of the federal government's Build American Investment Initiative.<ref>{{cite web |title=Learn About the WIFIA Program |url=https://www.epa.gov/wifia/learn-about-wifia-program |date=March 21, 2017 |publisher=EPA}}</ref> Congress amended the WIFIA program in 2015 and 2016.<ref>United States.<br />1. Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act. {{USPL|114|94}}, §1445. Approved 2015-12-04.<br />2. Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act of 2016. {{USPL|114|322}}, §5008. Approved 2016-12-16.</ref> One of the envisaged instruments to boost financing in water infrastructure are Qualified Public Infrastructure Bonds (QPIBs), tax-exempt municipal bonds that can be used by private companies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Increasing Investment in U.S. Roads, Ports and Drinking Water Systems Through Innovative Financing |series=Fact Sheet |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/16/fact-sheet-increasing-investment-us-roads-ports-and-drinking-water-syste |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |date=January 16, 2015 |access-date=May 31, 2015}}</ref>

=== Protecting water utilities from terrorist attack ===
In 2007 EPA stated, "Improving the security of our nation's drinking water and wastewater infrastructures has become a top priority since the events of [[9/11]]. Significant actions are underway to assess and reduce vulnerabilities to potential [[terrorist attack]]s; to plan for and practice response to emergencies and incidents; and to develop new security technologies to detect and monitor [[contaminant]]s and prevent security breaches."<ref>{{cite web |title=Water Security |website=Ground Water & Drinking Water |url=http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/index.cfm |date=May 4, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100111081323/http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/index.cfm |archive-date=January 11, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Copeland |first1=Claudia |date=December 15, 2010 |title=Terrorism and Security Issues Facing the Water Infrastructure Sector |url=http://fas.org/sgp/crs/terror/RL32189.pdf |access-date=August 16, 2014 |publisher=Congressional Research Service}}</ref>

One of the most important elements of water security is early and accurate contamination detection. The EPA has issued advisory material and guidelines for contamination warning systems to be implemented in water utilities and supplies. The security challenges that utilities frequently revolve around fast detection, [[accuracy]], and the ability to take fast action when there is a water problem. If contamination is detected early enough, it can be prevented from reaching [[consumer]]s, and emergency water supplies can be put into effect.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Water Security Initiative: Interim Guidance on Planning for Contamination Warning System Deployment |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/pubs/guide_watersecurity_securityinitiative_interimplanningpdf.pdf |publisher=US EPA |access-date=August 16, 2014}}</ref>

In cases where contamination might still reach consumers, fast and efficient [[communication system]]s are necessary. All these factors also point to the need for organized and practiced [[emergency procedure]]s and [[Emergency preparedness|preparedness]].

Since 2002, under the [[Bioterrorism Act]], a [[water utility]] supplying more than 3,300 people must take at least the following measures to ensure security of the water supply:<ref>{{cite web |title=Bioterrorism Act of 2002 |url=https://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/ucm148797.htm |access-date=August 16, 2014 |publisher=Fda.gov}}</ref><ref name="cfpub.epa.gov">{{cite web |url=http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/home.cfm?program_id=11 |title= EPA - Water Security - Vulnerability Assessments|website=cfpub.epa.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090730155311/http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/home.cfm?program_id=11 |archive-date=July 30, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=IV -- Drinking Water Security and Safety |url=https://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/ucm155780.htm |access-date=August 16, 2014 |publisher=FDA}}</ref>

* Conduct an assessment of the facility's vulnerabilities to [[vandalism]], insider [[sabotage]], or terrorist attack, and submit the report to the EPA.
* Show that the facility has an up-to-date [[emergency response]] plan, should an incident occur.

More recently, under the Drinking Water Security Act of 2009, the EPA is now required to establish risk-based performance standards for community water systems serving more than 3,300 people.<ref name="cfpub.epa.gov" />

==See also==
* [[Bottled water in the United States]]
* [[Environment of the United States]]
* [[List of water supply and sanitation by country]]

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* [http://www.epaalumni.org/hcp/drinkingwater.pdf EPA Alumni Association: Drinking Water, Half Century of Progress] – a brief history of U.S. efforts to protect drinking water
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.epa.gov/ground-water-and-drinking-water Ground Water and Drinking Water] – EPA
* [https://www.epa.gov/npdes EPA Wastewater Permit Program – NPDES]
* [https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/publications/books/housing/cha08.htm Rural Water Supplies and Water Quality Issues] – Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
* [https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/drinking/public/water_sources.html Public Water Systems – Water Sources] – CDC
* [http://www.renuwit.org ReNUWIt, Engineering Research Center for Re-inventing the Nation's Urban Water Infrastructure]
* [http://nrwa.org National Rural Water Association]

{{United States topics}}
{{Water supply and sanitation by country}}
{{World topic|Water supply and sanitation in|noredlinks=yes}}
{{Americas topic|Water supply and sanitation in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Water Supply And Sanitation In The United States}}
[[Category:Water supply and sanitation in the United States| ]]