ASCE Considers Economic Impacts of Failing Water Infrastructure

In addition to its Annual Report Card on Infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has launched “…a new series of reports that take a closer look at the economic impacts of our failing infrastructure in America.”  The latest report (released on December 15th) looks at water and wastewater infrastructure and assesses current need as well as projected conditions for 2020 and 2040.

Titled “Failure to Act:  The Economic Impact of Current Investment Trends in Water and Wastewater Treatment Infrastructure,” the study finds that “…if current trends persist, the investment required will amount to $126 billion by 2020 and the anticipated capital funding gap will be $84 billion…by 2040, the needs for capital investment will amount to $195 billion and the funding gap will have escalated to $144 billion, unless strategies to address the gap are implemented in the intervening years to alter these trends.”  Further, by 2020, “…the total costs to business due to unreliable infrastructure will be $147 billion while that number will be $59 billion for households.  The total impact of increased costs and drop in income will reduce the standard of living for families by almost $900 per year.”

Both the executive summary and the full report can be downloaded at no cost from the ASCE website at http://www.asce.org/Infrastructure/Failure-to-Act/Water-and-Wastewater/.