Written by: Adib Amini, PhD, PE, ENV SP, BCEE, Program Director, UW–Madison Interdisciplinary Professional Programs
Much of what sustains modern life depends on systems most of us never see. Drinking water and wastewater infrastructure run beneath our streets and through our communities, quietly doing their work every day. We turn on a tap, flush a toilet, or run a load of laundry without needing to give much thought to what happens before or after.
In fact, many people would struggle to explain even the basics of how water is treated, how it reaches their home, or where it goes once it leaves. Our water systems are quite literally out of sight, and for most of us, out of mind.
Clean drinking water and effective wastewater treatment are among the most successful public health achievements in history. They have dramatically reduced diseases, supported economic growth, and made modern life possible. Indeed, without reliable water systems, all aspects of society begin to crumble.
Beyond their undoubted benefits, these systems typically work with near-flawless reliability. But success has a downside. When water is consistently safe and reliable, the infrastructure behind it fades into the background of daily life. We notice water systems only when there is a major failure, a service disruption, or a crisis that makes headlines. Over time, it becomes harder to see the connection between ongoing investment in our water systems and the essential benefits we depend on every day. We all pay for the cost of these water systems, and the bills can sometimes feel like they are weighing heavily on us. As a result, many of us, including political leaders, have unintentionally come to see our public water systems in a strange light. We see our water systems as a burden.
Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
In most communities, drinking water and wastewater systems are publicly owned and operated by municipalities. Their role is straightforward but critical: protect public health, safeguard the environment, and provide reliable service at the lowest reasonable cost.
These systems are built to last. Pipes, treatment plants, and pumping stations are designed to operate for decades. Keeping them safe and reliable requires a steady, long-term investment. When investment keeps pace with need, systems tend to run quietly and smoothly. When it does not, risks grow slowly and often invisibly.
Because this infrastructure is mostly out of sight, conversations about funding tend to happen at uncomfortable moments, such as when rate increases are proposed or major repairs become unavoidable. This can make investment feel reactive rather than intentional, even when the goal is long-term benefit.
How affordable are our public water systems?
Across much of the United States, combined drinking water and wastewater bills roughly range from about $50 to $150 per month. This covers water sourcing, water treatment and delivery, wastewater collection and treatment, environmental protection, regulatory compliance, emergency preparedness, and more. According to the EPA, this is about $16.83 per 1,000 gallons. For drinking water specifically, this cost is $7.74 per 1,000 gallons. Yes, you read that correctly. Less than $8 for 1,000 gallons of water.
On the other hand, purchasing topsoil in bulk has an average price that comes to approximately $100 per 1,000 gallons (calculated from $20 per cubic yard according to angi.com). This means our clean drinking water, delivered directly to our homes and gushing out of our faucets, literally costs less than dirt. More than 12 times less.
Drinking Water Regulations
Not all agree, however, that our drinking water is as clean and pure as it should be. The EPA regulates our public drinking water, implementing certain required standards for public health. These are called National Primary Drinking Water Regulations and are required to be met for all public utilities. These include such things as: cryptosporidium, giardia lamblia, viruses, disinfection byproducts, a variety of inorganic and organic chemicals, and more. The most recent addition to this list is certain types of PFAS (starting in 2024). There are some things missing from our Primary standards that much of the public would like to see removed, such as pharmaceuticals and microplastics. Yet we must recall that all additional treatment comes at a cost.
There are also secondary standards that are considered more aesthetic and are not required of all public water systems. They include chloride, sulfate, iron, total dissolved solids (hardness) and other things associated with taste, odor, and staining. Therefore, providing water softening (which is essentially a reduction of minerals in the water) is not required for all water systems, even though it is commonly performed.
Are these enough?
Public or Private Water Quality
Social media is flooded with various views regarding drinking water, of variable merit. Some are based on reasonable science, others less so. Yet one thing seems sure. People care about the quality of their drinking water.
And perhaps the more people think about and talk about their drinking water, especially in regard to their own family, the more they care. Many individuals and households willingly spend money on bottled water and additional water treatment systems at homes and in businesses. Countertop filters, under-sink systems, water fountain filtration, whole-house filtration, and water softeners are now common. For many, they provide a peace of mind that they are getting the best quality of drinking water.
These systems, of course, come with real costs. Over time, these products can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually (sometimes more than our public water bills). But many families happily pay for them.
This contrast is revealing. People clearly care about water quality and are willing to pay for it, yet public water systems are often left out of these thoughts.
Shifting Mindsets
We are at a critical juncture in the history of our infrastructure in the United States. Many of our infrastructure systems are aging. Likewise, society is undergoing massive changes that some predict to only accelerate.
At this time, a shift in mindset is needed.
While many have unintentionally come to see paying for public water systems as a burden, we must instead shift our perspective to see the massive benefit of spending more on our water systems, especially when considering how cost-effective they are.
Many municipalities go decades without raising their water utility rates (which directly pays for our water systems). Some of these localities even tout the fact that their rates have not gone up in decades. Recently, there have also been bills proposed in various states to limit increases in water utility rates. While well-intentioned and clearly meant to focus on affordability, this mindset only cripples the utility’s ability to continue maintaining its systems and meet the public’s needs. A shift in mindset would be to instead propose bills that require that water rates are increased steadily every year, by modest and reasonable amounts (at least as much as inflation).
The Impact of Investment
When investment is made at the system level, the impact is enormous. No other system can provide a cost efficiency of $7.74 per 1,000 gallons. Public water systems operate at a scale that individual solutions cannot match, and improvements at treatment plants or across distribution networks raise water quality and reliability for entire communities at once.
As a reference, for a town of 5,000-10,000 people, a large facility upgrade, dramatically improving its systems and its ability to provide high-quality water may cost $20-40 million. Even if water rates have not increased in many years, this may only require a 10-20% increase in water rates. For most households, this translates to roughly $5 to $20 more per month (that’s less than some streaming services!).
So, instead of spending money on bottled water and many complex home filtration systems, perhaps we should be putting our money toward upgrading our public water systems.
When we spend more on public water systems, we are directly investing in our communities. It’s difficult to see any of that money as being wasted. Instead of the money going off to be used for things we don’t see and don’t understand, it goes directly back to our communities and gently flows right back to us.