BRYN MAWR, PA — Aqua, a subsidiary of Essential Utilities Inc. (NYSE: WTRG) recognized the 10th annual Infrastructure Week, May 16-20, 2022, by spotlighting the importance of investing in infrastructure and the need to accelerate the implementation of key projects that America needs. Aqua has been executing strategic capital investment in the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure and has plans to invest $590 million this year in key projects across its eight-state footprint.
“We strongly believe capital investments from regulated companies play a significant role in solving our nation’s infrastructure challenges,” said Christopher Franklin, chairman and CEO of Essential Utilities. “We are proud to play a leading role in providing solutions that enable us to enhance customer service and environmental impact across our water and wastewater operations. Infrastructure Week is an important opportunity to showcase our team’s work in improving the lives of our customers.”
The dire state of water infrastructure in the U.S. has been well documented. The EPA reports approximately 240,000 water main breaks occur each year in the U.S., with approximately $2.6 billion lost as water mains leak and waste an estimated 6 billion gallons of treated water daily–enough to support 15 million households. While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will infuse $55 billion in federal funding toward improving the nation’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, private utility dollars are critical to bridging the gap between that and the estimated $600 billion needed over the next 20 years to ensure safe drinking water and wastewater treatment. These statistics quantify the need for increased investment and underscore Aqua’s commitment to the cause.
In southeast Pennsylvania, home to Aqua’s most concentrated customer base, the company invested $2.3 billion in infrastructure between 2012 and 2022, reducing the occurrence of main breaks from nearly 25 per 100 miles of pipe to fewer than 10 main breaks per 100 miles of pipe well below the industry target of 15. This work has reduced water loss, the volume and cost of emergency repairs and service interruptions and improved overall water and wastewater service for customers.
Over the past 10 years across the company, Aqua has invested $5.1 billion in infrastructure improvements, including hundreds of miles of pipe replacement and plant upgrades. This year, infrastructure projects are planned across all eight of Aqua’s states to ensure safe and reliable water reaches each customer.
In 2021, Essential Utilities invested a record of more than $1 billion to improve water and natural gas infrastructure systems and replaced or retired 470 miles of aging gas and water mains. Essential remains committed to ongoing record levels of infrastructure replacement and anticipate investing approximately $3 billion through 2024 towards this commitment.
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