Drinking water spending spans long-term public infrastructure needs, utility financing, regulatory work, and household price movements. The figures below focus mainly on the United States and distinguish EPA estimates of eligible infrastructure need from observed program assistance, USGS water-use volumes, and BLS price-index movements.
Key Drinking Water Spending Statistics
The most broadly useful drinking water spending statistics are:
- In the EPA’s 2015 assessment, $472.6 billion was the estimated 20-year drinking-water infrastructure need for U.S. public water systems from 2015 through 2034.
- The EPA assessment covered approximately 49,250 U.S. community water systems in 2015.
- EPA’s national estimate in January 2015 dollars rose from $253.6 billion in 1995 to $472.6 billion in 2015.
- The national estimate was $250.9 billion in 1999, $419.4 billion in 2003, $423.7 billion in 2007, and $428.6 billion in 2011.
- From 1999 to 2003, the national estimate increased 67.2% in 2015 dollars.
- States provided $32.5 billion through Drinking Water State Revolving Fund programs for 13,183 projects from 1997 through 2016.
- Transmission and distribution represented $312.6 billion of the U.S. 2015–2034 national need.
- Treatment represented $83.0 billion of the U.S. 2015–2034 national need.
- Storage represented $47.6 billion of the U.S. 2015–2034 national need.
- Source-water infrastructure represented $21.8 billion of the U.S. 2015–2034 national need.
- Large community systems serving more than 100,000 people had $174.4 billion of estimated need from 2015 through 2034.
- Medium community systems serving 3,301 to 100,000 people had $210.6 billion of estimated need from 2015 through 2034.
- Small community systems serving 3,300 or fewer people had $74.4 billion of estimated need from 2015 through 2034.
- Large systems represented 37.6% of national need across 644 systems serving 141.7 million people in the 2015 assessment.
- Proposed and recently promulgated regulations added $4.2 billion to the EPA’s 2015–2034 national estimate.
- U.S. water withdrawals totaled about 322 billion gallons per day in 2015.
- Public supply was estimated at 39 billion gallons per day in the United States in 2015.
- Total domestic use was estimated at 26.6 billion gallons per day in the United States in 2015.
- The BLS water and sewer and trash collection services index rose 5.4% from April 2022 to April 2023 for the U.S. city average CPI-U.
Contents
- Key Drinking Water Spending Statistics
- National drinking water infrastructure spending estimates and trends
- Drinking water infrastructure spending by project category
- Drinking water spending by utility size and population served
- Treatment, source-water, and storage spending data
- Regulatory and public-finance drinking water spending
- Household water use and water-and-sewer price trends
National Drinking Water Infrastructure Spending Estimates and Trends
EPA’s Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment estimated $472.6 billion in eligible drinking-water infrastructure need for U.S. public water systems over the 20-year period from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2034. This is a January 2015-dollar estimate of DWSRF-eligible need, not actual spending or a forecast of annual outlays.
The assessment covered approximately 49,250 community water systems. Federally owned systems were excluded, and EPA described the system inventory and cost estimates as assessment-based rather than completed investment totals.
| Assessment reference | National need, January 2015 dollars | Geography and period |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 assessment | $253.6 billion | United States; 1995 assessment |
| 1999 assessment | $250.9 billion | United States; 1999 assessment |
| 2003 assessment | $419.4 billion | United States; 2003 assessment |
| 2007 assessment | $423.7 billion | United States; 2007 assessment |
| 2011 assessment | $428.6 billion | United States; 2011 assessment |
| 2015 assessment | $472.6 billion | United States; 2015–2034 need |
Source: EPA, Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. Historical comparisons are limited by changes in methodology and inventories.
EPA reported a 67.2% increase in the 2015-dollar estimate from 1999 to 2003 and a 10.3%, or $44 billion, increase from the 2011 assessment to the 2015 assessment. These are assessment comparisons, not measures of household water spending or realized capital outlays.
The total need for U.S. states and territories was $464.6 billion. That total excludes separate American Indian, Alaska Native Village, and regulatory totals shown by EPA.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Spending by Project Category
The largest category in EPA’s 2015–2034 estimate was transmission and distribution, at $312.6 billion. Community water systems had an estimated 2.2 million miles of transmission lines and distribution mains, based on medium and large systems’ assessment data.
| Project category | Estimated need, 2015–2034 | Definition or limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Transmission and distribution | $312.6 billion | January 2015 dollars |
| Treatment | $83.0 billion | Construction, expansion, and rehabilitation |
| Storage | $47.6 billion | Finished-water storage |
| Source-water infrastructure | $21.8 billion | Intakes, drilled wells, and spring collectors |
| Other projects | $7.5 billion | Projects outside the four major types |
Source: EPA, Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. Source-water figures generally exclude dams and raw-water reservoirs, while storage is a finished-water category.
Treatment need includes facilities intended to reduce contamination through treatment processes, along with rehabilitation and replacement. The source-water category includes intake and collection infrastructure, so it should not be read as the full cost of every upstream water-resource asset.
Drinking Water Spending by Utility Size and Population Served
EPA’s system-size categories show how estimated need differs by population served. Large systems served more than 100,000 people, medium systems served 3,301 to 100,000, and small systems served 3,300 or fewer people.
| Community-system group | Estimated need, 2015–2034 | Additional detail |
|---|---|---|
| Large, more than 100,000 people | $174.4 billion | 644 systems; 141.7 million people served |
| Medium, 3,301–100,000 people | $210.6 billion | Distribution/transmission: $144.9B; treatment: $33.7B; storage: $20.0B |
| Small, 3,300 or fewer people | $74.4 billion | Distribution/transmission: $44.6B; treatment: $11.0B; storage: $11.3B |
Source: EPA, Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. EPA defines the size groups, and the population figure is served population rather than total U.S. population.
Large systems accounted for 37.6% of national need while representing 1.3% of water systems in the assessment. Small-system estimates used an updated inventory and cost models, which limits direct comparisons with earlier assessment years.
Not-for-profit noncommunity systems had $5.1 billion of estimated need for 2015–2034. This is a separate category from community water systems and should not be combined with the community-system size groups without preserving that distinction.
Treatment, Source-Water, and Storage Spending Data
Across U.S. public water systems, EPA estimated $83.0 billion for treatment, $21.8 billion for source-water infrastructure, and $47.6 billion for storage from 2015 through 2034. The treatment estimate includes new construction, expansion, rehabilitation, and replacement.
The assessment also separated tribal and Alaska Native Village system categories:
- American Indian and Alaska Native Village systems together had $3.8 billion of estimated need for 2015–2034.
- American Indian water systems had $3.1 billion of estimated need for 2015–2034, with transmission and distribution representing 68%; EPA noted that the need includes connections for homes without public-system service.
- Alaska Native Village water systems had $0.7 billion of estimated need for 2015–2034, with remote and Arctic conditions affecting the cost structure.
Source: EPA, Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment.
These categories are not interchangeable with state totals. In particular, the states-and-territories total excludes separate tribal and regulatory totals shown in the EPA assessment.
Regulatory and Public-Finance Drinking Water Spending
Proposed and recently promulgated regulations added an estimated $4.2 billion to the 2015 assessment framework for 2015–2034. Microbial regulations accounted for 69% of regulatory need, a share that applies only to the regulatory subset rather than to total infrastructure need.
EPA reported observed Drinking Water State Revolving Fund assistance of $32.5 billion for 13,183 water-system projects from 1997 through 2016. This is program financing and does not represent all public or private drinking-water capital spending.
The assessment surveyed 2,600 systems and received 2,592 responses, a 99.7% response rate, in 2015. That survey statistic provides context for the estimate; it is not a spending outcome.
For states and U.S. territories, EPA estimated $310.2 billion in transmission and distribution need, $78.2 billion in treatment need, $47.1 billion in storage need, and $21.6 billion in source-water need for 2015–2034.
Source: EPA, Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment.
The EPA’s Drinking Water Research page also states the sixth assessment’s $472.6 billion, 20-year national need. The assessment’s dollar figures are generally eligible DWSRF need estimates in January 2015 dollars, not completed investment.
Household Water Use and Water-and-Sewer Price Trends
USGS estimated total U.S. water withdrawals at about 322 billion gallons per day in 2015, 9% lower than in 2010. These figures measure withdrawals or water use, not drinking-water spending, and public supply is not identical to drinking-water-only volume.
| Water-use measure | 2015 estimate | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total withdrawals | 322 billion gallons/day | United States; all categories |
| Public supply | 39 billion gallons/day | Public-supply withdrawals/deliveries |
| Total domestic use | 26.6 billion gallons/day | United States domestic use |
| Public-supply domestic use | 23.3 billion gallons/day | Domestic users served by public supply |
| Self-supplied domestic withdrawals | 3.26 billion gallons/day | Primarily private wells and other self-supplied sources |
Irrigation used 118 billion gallons per day and thermoelectric power used 133 billion gallons per day in 2015; together with public supply, those three categories accounted for 90% of national water use. These non-household categories show the broader denominator and should not be treated as household spending.
Source: USGS, Estimated use of water in the United States in 2015.
BLS price data provide a different view of household cost pressure. In the U.S. city average CPI-U for April 2023, the combined water and sewer and trash collection services category had a 1.060% relative importance and rose 5.4% from April 2022 to April 2023; it rose 0.3% from March to April 2023 on a seasonally adjusted basis.
| BLS category | April 2023 relative importance | Price movement |
|---|---|---|
| Water, sewer, and trash collection services | 1.060% | +5.4% year over year; +0.3% March–April 2023, seasonally adjusted |
| Water and sewerage maintenance | 0.759% | +4.8% year over year |
| Garbage and trash collection | 0.301% | +6.9% year over year |
Source: BLS, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: U.S. city average, April 2023. Relative importance is an index weight, not average household dollars; the combined category includes trash collection, while water and sewerage maintenance is narrower.