Top Stories

Study Finds Americans Willing To Pay More For Water. The report found that 75 percent of Americans were willing to pay more for water infrastructure that conserves energy and 70 percent were willing to pay more for water to ensure that all Americans have access to clean water.

Clean Water Council members to send letter to House and committee leaders urging them to include a provision to lift  the cap on private industry bonds (PAB)s in any end-of-the-year package Congress will consider. Once approved and signed by Clean Water Council members, the letter will be sent the the Hill on Thursday morning, December 5. If you are are interested in  signing the council letter, please contact Will Brown, will@nuca.com, no later than COB Wednesday, December 4

The CWC website has been updated with a completely new look and and considerably more content. Check it out at http://www.cleanwatercouncil.org.

Failing Infrastructure

Topeka, KS: The city of Topeka, Kans. recorded 79 breaks in November. The city, by the end of November this year, had recorded 860 water main breaks, its second most on record for a calendar year. The city’s third highest water main break total was 786, recorded last year.

Easton, MA: The Water Department is alerting residents that E. coli bacteria has been found in untreated samples of the town’s drinking water, but stressed that treated samples show no contamination and there is no need to boil drinking water.

Bend, Oreg.  A recent discovery of  broken century-old sewer lines prompted city officials  to point to problems lingering beneath the streets. Underneath the streets of Bend, 480 miles of sewer system run through the ground.

“We know the condition is basically in failure mode,” Portsmouth Public Works Director Jennifer Perry said of collapsing sewer lines in areas of Portsmouth. The town’s budget committee will recommend $1.1 million for sewer line replacement next year.

St. Ignace, MI: With trees growing into sewer pipes, city must lay groundwork to replace or repair sewer lines.  The City of St. Ignace is pursuing a grant for the design of a new sewer system.

Scott Township, PA:  A water main broke under a sidewalk causing a flood inside a local  book outlet. Pools of water formed on the floor around the book shelves. Water also got into a Sherwin-Williams paint store. Both stores were forced to close for a day.

Western Springs, IL: A water line break caused a more than 1 million gallons of water to drain from a water tower. A public works crew was on the site using a backhoe to dig into the soppy ground to find and repair the break underneath a baseball field south of the tower.

New Highland, CA:  An early morning water main break poured 500 thousand gallons into roadway. Fire officials called to the scene said they could not stop the gushing water because the break sits in a pipe underground. They noted that the pipe wash gushing approximately 3,000 gallons of water a minute.

Springfield, MA: Twelve million gallons of water gushed 3 feet in the air after 54 in. steel main installed in 1928 cracked.

Miami, FL: Miami-Dade proposes spending $1.5 billion over 15 years to cure sewer system woes.   County and federal regulators have negotiated a plan to replace Dade’s decrepit pipes and aging sewage treatment plants.

Boil water orders for the week of November 27-December 3 for portions or all of the areas below:

Aiken County, Ga.; Holly Hills,  Fla.; Chautauqua County, N.Y; city of Gahanna, N.Y.; Terrebonneish, La.,; Worcester, Mass.; Pearl River County, Miss.; Gaston County, N.C., Litchfield Park and Goodyear, Ariz.; Wilmington, Del.; Hancock, N.Y.; Lavallettee, W.Va.; Clovis, N.Mex; Sissonville, W.Va.; Belforest Water System, Ala.; Attica, Iowa; Greater Harrison, W.Va.; Columbia, S.C.; Kenly, N.C., Cibolat County, M.Mex; Waynesville, Ohio; Southern Boone County, Mo.; Taos County, N.Mex.; Ouachita Parish, La.; Forestville, N.Y.; Mi-Wuk Village, Calif.; Stanley, N.Y.; Symsonia, Ky.; Lampasas, Tex.; Western Springs, Ill.; Lorena, Tex.; Village of Herkmer, N.Y., Pinckneyville, Ky., Lorena, Tex., Crossville, Ill., Clinton, La.; Oglesby, Ill.