The Water Systems Council (WSC), a national nonprofit organization focused on household wells and water well systems, has launched a comprehensive online guide to financial and planning resources for rural community drinking water infrastructure projects: waterprojectfunds.com.
The new website follows the recent WSC-championed Water Supply Cost Savings Act, which requires that alternative drinking water supplies such as individual, shared and community wells be considered in applications for federal funding for drinking water systems serving 500 or fewer people.
In the United States, 41,801 of 52,000 community drinking water systems are small systems, and 27,500 serve communities of 500 or fewer. WSC’s new waterprojectfunds.com website is designed to support underserved small rural communities and provide financial and planning resources needed to begin infrastructure renewal.
“The most recent EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey reflects a shortfall of $64 billion in drinking water infrastructure funding,” said Margaret Martens, WSC executive director. “Waterprojectfunds.com is meant to assist small communities with identifying cost-effective solutions in the face of unique rural water challenges where connecting to a larger system is neither cost-effective nor feasible.”
The new website features a Home landing page with background information on rural water policy and statistics, such as new legislature and cost-savings data. A Resources page outlines a curated list of financial and planning information and tools — for both operator and non-operator users — from government agencies, water industry associations, nonprofit organizations, and other related programs. For examples of successful rural drinking water system infrastructure projects, users can also visit the Case Studies page and explore how small communities resolved a range of issues, ranging from failing pumps to deteriorating water wells to public health threats.
For more information and to view the new website, visit waterprojectfunds.com. For more information on the Water Systems Council, visit watersystemscouncil.org or connect with the Water Systems Council on social media:
- Facebook: @watersystemscouncil
- Twitter: @council_water
- LinkedIn: Water Systems Council
- YouTube: WaterSystemsCouncil
The Water Systems Council works to ensure Americans who get their water from household private wells have safe, reliable drinking water, and to protecting our nation’s groundwater resources. For more information, visit watersystemscouncil.org.
