Spring is a seasonal shift: We spend more time outdoors walking the dog, playing with our kids, or just enjoying our neighborhoods. But beneath our feet lies a vast network of infrastructure that most people never think about. But at Aqua Pennsylvania, we do. Every day.
Much of our nation’s water infrastructure — pipes, wells, and treatment plants — was installed more than a century ago. It helped power generations of growth, but many of these systems are now past their useful life and in urgent need of repair or replacement. The risk of not completing this work is failure of the very water and wastewater systems that sustain the communities in which we live and work.
How We Got Here: Decades of Disinvestment
As I shared in a previous post, safeguarding water quality has only grown more complex as years of underinvestment and deferred maintenance have left many systems deteriorating. One doesn’t have to think back very far to the drinking water crisis in Jackson, Miss., that entered the public eye in August 2022. This crisis was attributed to a lack of investment.
Today, this aging infrastructure is facing ever-increasing regulations while addressing threats that weren’t even on the radar years ago, including contaminants like PFAS and the mandate to replace lead and galvanized service lines. These are important public health protections, but they come with steep costs and new compliance regulations.
Meanwhile, the federal government’s share of capital funding for infrastructure has dropped sharply, from around 60 percent in 1977 to less than 10 percent by 2020. As a result, municipalities and utilities are left to shoulder the burden of modernizing aging systems while contending with new regulatory requirements and escalating costs.
Why Sustained Investment Can’t Wait
The systems Aqua Pennsylvania acquires often suffer from decades of neglect, poor original construction, or outdated practices. Deferred maintenance threatens service and may lead to more expensive fixes later.
There is a national call for urgent and sustained infrastructure investment across our country. A recent report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers graded our nation’s drinking water as a “C-” and our wastewater a “D+.” Without the necessary investment, the reality is that these aging water systems lead to unexpected service interruptions, water loss, and risks to the safety of your drinking water.
Every day, Aqua Pennsylvania is working to change this paradigm. We’re proactively meeting evolving state and federal standards to ensure our customers have safe, reliable drinking water service. But doing so takes resources and significant investment in infrastructure and the employees who operate and maintain these systems.
And we’re making sustained investments. Consider that in 2024, we invested over $338 million in capital improvements, with plans to invest approximately $1.85 billion through 2029. These efforts not only strengthen our service but also support a healthier, more sustainable future for you and your families.
The Cost of Safe & Reliable Service
Investing in water and wastewater affects daily life. We take on essential projects to protect your health, sensitive to the fact that these improvements come with costs. That’s why we aggressively pursue every available alternative funding source, like PENNVEST grants and loans, to reduce the burden on our customers.
Your water bill supports critical improvements that go far beyond what comes out of your tap. Your payment helps our trained water professionals deliver safe, reliable drinking water by supporting treatment processes that remove harmful contaminants like PFAS, bacteria, and other substances from lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater wells. It ensures you and your family receive drinking water that meets or exceeds rigorous regulatory standards.
Your bill also supports the reliability of our systems, helping maintain the water storage tanks and reservoirs that ensure 24/7 water availability for homes, businesses, and essential services, including fire protection from more than 25,000 fire hydrants across our service area. It funds the upkeep and expansion of over 5,900 miles of water mains and pipelines that bring water directly to your home.
Behind the scenes, it supports a team of skilled chemists, biologists, and lab technicians who continuously monitor and test the drinking water supply. It enables us to meet and exceed state and federal water quality regulations. And it keeps dedicated employees on call around the clock, even during hurricanes, snowstorms, and droughts, to ensure that your water service remains uninterrupted.
Every dollar you pay goes directly into maintaining and improving this essential system of people and infrastructure. It’s an investment not just in clean water, but in the health, safety, and resiliency of your community.
What to Expect in Your Community
So, if you get a letter from us announcing a new project on your street, or you see an Aqua truck working in your neighborhood, know that we’re doing more than meets the eye. We’re upgrading vital infrastructure, often unseen, that supports your daily routine: your coffee in the morning, your child’s bath at night, the fire hydrant that protects your home and builds a community for generations to come.
Learn more about how we invest and protect your water at Aqua. Aqua has been committed to providing the highest quality water and wastewater services to its communities since its beginnings in 1886.
