Every day, people turn on the tap and expect safe, reliable water—and trust that wastewater is treated responsibly to protect public health and the environment—without thinking about the systems behind it.
But delivering quality water and treating and releasing wastewater is becoming more complex. Across the country, communities are managing aging infrastructure, rising costs and increasingly strict regulatory standards. Recent analysis from the American Water Works Association (AWWA) estimates that meeting drinking water system needs will require between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion in investment over the next 25 years, reflecting not just aging pipes, but new regulatory, resilience, and operational demands.
These pressures are prompting a practical question:
What does it take to keep water and wastewater systems reliable—not just today, but decades from now?
Much of the nation’s water infrastructure was built between 1930 and 1970 —and it’s showing its age. Pipes, pumps, tanks and treatment plants require continuous maintenance. At the same time, utilities are navigating a widening gap between needs and available resources. AWWA estimates current capital investment at about $33.6 billion annually, compared to roughly $90.2 billion in needed system improvements per year, leaving a significant funding shortfall.
Private, regulated water and wastewater providers are helping close that gap, investing approximately $6 billion annually to help ensure safety and reliability of their systems.
Why Expertise Matters More Than Ever
Water systems are technical operations. Running them effectively requires skilled operators, engineers, and scientists with expertise in treatment technologies, operational compliance and system performance.
Private, regulated water and wastewater providers focus exclusively on this work. American Water, the largest private, regulated water and wastewater utility company, has over 7,000 employees across 14 states with over 140 years of expertise with managing and investing in water and wastewater systems.
The economies of scale and operations across multiple communities, enable private providers to specialize in managing treatment plants, maintain infrastructure, and plan for long-term system needs.
- Applying consistent operating and compliance standards across systems
- Sharing specialized technical expertise across utilities and disciplines
- Responding quickly to operational issues to maintain service reliability
Designed for the Future: Scale, Investment, and Long-Term Planning
The challenge for many communities is not just operating a system—but sustaining it.
America’s drinking water systems include more than 2.2 million miles of pipe, with a water main break occurring approximately every two minutes. On average, 14% of treated drinking water is lost through leaks, totaling an estimated 6 billion gallons lost each day, enough to supply approximately 75 million people.
Smaller systems often face the greatest strain. They serve about 7% of the population but account for 16% of infrastructure need, reflecting the difficulty of funding upgrades across a limited customer base.
Private, regulated water and wastewater providers bring the scale and structure needed to address these challenges, including:
- Access to capital for infrastructure improvements
- Long-term investment planning
- Comprehensive asset management programs designed to prevent failures
Meeting the Challenge, Today and Tomorrow
Water systems are becoming more complex, more regulated, and more capital-intensive. Maintaining them requires not just technical expertise, but the capacity to plan, invest in needed upgrades, and operate at scale over the long term.
For many communities, the challenge is no longer identifying what needs to be done—it’s having the resources and capabilities to get it done. Private, regulated water and wastewater providers are well-prepared and ready to meet that challenge.
References
American Water Works Association. Beyond the Replacement Era: Balancing Compounding Infrastructure Needs With Household Affordability. Denver: AWWA, 2026.
American Society of Civil Engineers. 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure: Drinking Water. Reston, VA: ASCE, 2025. https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/drinking-water-infrastructure/