Water supply and sanitation issues and solutions in the USA.

1. Water Resources in The USA By: Wadha Al-Thani. 9D

2. Water Supply and Sanitation: Issues that affect water supply and sanitation in the United States include water shortage, pollution, an accumulation of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce. Also, Increased rainfall as a result of climate change is expected to create more floods, with serious pollution consequences like combined sewer overflow. The Drinking water quality concerns are about disinfection by-products 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 like to keep pace with demand from an increasing population, utilities traditionally have increased supplies. However, faced with increasing costs, water conservation is beginning to receive more attention and is being supported through the federal Water Sense program. The reuse of treated waste water for non-negotiable uses is also becoming increasingly common. State governments and the federal government regulate water supply and wastewater systems. At the state level, health and environmental regulation assigned it to the corresponding state-level departments.

3. USA Region: The United States of America is located in Northern America and has a lot of water sources in lakes, rivers, streams, and oceans. The precipitation is average causing a lot of water storages. The oceans, rivers, and etc. are home to many turtles, fish and other sea creatures. The water pollution in the region is severe and therefore we should pay more attention to the issues and solutions of Water sources in the USA.

4. Social Impacts: More than 1.7 million people in the United States, 670,986 households, still lack basic plumbing facilities. More than a third of them have household incomes below the federal poverty level. Most of the people who lacked plumbing services were elderly, poor, and living in rural areas. Alaska has the highest percentage of households without plumbing – 6.32 percent of all its households. Water management must improve health conditions of the population, especially reducing morbidity rates for water-borne diseases. The mean U.S. water tariff - excluding sewer tariffs - was $2.72 per 1,000 gallons ($0.72 per cubic meter) in 2000 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. Annual combined water and sewer bills vary between $228 in Chicago and $1,476 in Atlanta in 2008.

5. Economic and Financial Impacts: Economic valuation of water resources. Efficient allocation among competing uses. Integrated approaches to water management. Raising funds for Operation and Maintenance. Raising funds for new investments.

6. Political Impacts: 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. 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. *SRF=State Revolving Funds

7. Environmental Impacts: Water scarcity and climate change: 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. Climate change affects water supply in the U.S. in the following ways: Rising water demands. Hotter summers mean thirstier people and plants. 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, potentially increasing water storage needs in these areas.

8. Environmental Impacts: Pollution Sewer overflows. Combined sewer overflows (CSO) and sanitary sewer overflows affect the quality of water resources in many parts of the U.S. About 772 communities have combined sewer systems, serving about 40 million people, mostly in the Northeast, the Great Lakes Region and the Pacific Northwest. 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 850 billion gallons of untreated wastewater and storm water to the environment. EPA estimates that between 23,000 and 75,000 sanitary sewer overflows occur each year, resulting in releases of between 3 and 10 billion gallons of untreated wastewater. The increased frequency and intensity of rainfall as a result of climate change will result in additional water pollution from wastewater treatment, storage, and conveyance systems. "For the most part, wastewater treatment plants and combined sewer overflow 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.

9. Solutions and Recommendations: 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. 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. In some cases, such as in Irvine Ranch Water District in Orange County it is also used for flushing toilets. It was estimated that in 2002 a total of 1.7 billion gallons (6.4 million m3) per day, or almost 3% of public water supply, were being directly reused. Federal Assistance: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 17, 2009, provides $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.