Will we see that day soon? Charleston, W. Va., had a problem in January when a chemical used in the processing of coal leaked from a ruptured storage tank into the Elk River, contaminating the water supply for about 300,000 people. Last week, Toledo had a problem. Its water supply was declared unsafe because of the presence of microcystin, a toxin released by algae blooms in nearby Lake Erie.
The local water plants were at a loss as to what to do, so they could only say "don't drink the water". The problems in both areas were man-made. In Charleston, it was an upstream industrial spill; in Toledo, polluted runoff, including from agriculture, along the Great Lakes stoked the slimy, fluorescent algae blooms that sent residents flocking to supermarkets for bottled water.
We need money to keep the water supply functioning. The Environmental Protection Agency says the capital needs of water utilities over 20 years amount to $384 billion to keep tap water clean and another $298 billion to address wastewater and runoff. By comparison, over the last 25 years, the E.P.A.’s primary wastewater grant and loan program distributed over $100 billion, a fraction of the investment the nation needs to make now.
It sounds like another situation that we will ignore until it happens to us.
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