Kevin Gast is the co-founder, CEO and chairman of water-treatment company VVater.
Water supports the food we eat, the businesses that make our cities go, and the AI and data centers that are driving the world’s economy. Water is the single ingredient upon which all these stand. But the nation’s water infrastructure sorely needs updating.
A new report reveals that the United States requires $3.4 trillion in water infrastructure investment over the next 20
years, coinciding with the sunset of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s $8 billion annual investment in September of this year. The report states that if water service were disrupted nationwide for just 24 hours, the economy would lose nearly $120 billion, 527,000 jobs, and $69 billion in GDP. This must be addressed now, not down the road. The country’s physical infrastructure — from pipes to sewage, wastewater, and storm water lines, as well as treatment plants — was largely built or last upgraded decades ago and reflects outdated engineering assumptions.
City leaders and officials have a critical role to play in identifying new solutions, improving municipal infrastructure and driving the implementation of new technologies to support our water systems. The consequences of city leaders’ inaction are substantial, and the opportunities for economic expansion are extraordinary.
Solving the water crisis can begin at the city level, as long as leaders and officials prioritize the necessary actions. Below are three things cities can do to address the water crisis.
1. Treat water at the point of use
Amid the rapid growth in data center development, it is essential to remember that water and energy are inextricably linked. It takes enormous energy to pump, transport and treat water. America transports more water farther than almost any other developed nation. In many states, 40% of the cost of water is energy, and some facilities spend more on electricity than on treatment itself. Every mile of pipe is a mile of vulnerability, cost, carbon and maintenance. Centralized systems can no longer scale economically or safely. We must build systems that treat water at the point of use, not miles away through infrastructure built in the 1950s. 2.
2. Update infrastructure now, not later
Outdated infrastructure also puts our water facilities in harm's way. Across the U.S., city facilities are still operating on decades-old systems, many of which were installed before cybersecurity was a recognized concept. Federal agencies and state regulators have documented hundreds of attempted intrusions into water systems, from foreign adversaries to criminal ransomware groups to lone actors. Some intrusions were successful. Some used default passwords. Some got within one click of contaminating water for entire communities.
If the wrong actor flips the wrong switch at the wrong time, the devastation could be immediate and irreversible. Unlike energy grids, which have redundant layers, federal oversight and established defensive doctrines, U.S. water systems are fragmented, underfunded and digitally exposed. City leaders must begin the push to update this infrastructure, in turn improving the resiliency of the region’s economy, infrastructure, job creation, safety and health.
3. Prioritize outcome-based approvals
The U.S.’s legislative and regulatory frameworks for water infrastructure are stuck in a 1970s time capsule, built around chemical cocktails and outdated assumptions. The 1972 Clean Water Act and 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act retain an outdated, chemical-focused approach to regulation. These laws were designed primarily for decades-old pollution challenges from factories and sewage plants, rather than modern-day issues such as agricultural runoff and urban stormwater overflow. They struggle to adapt to contaminants like PFAS, microplastics, pharmaceutical residues and endocrine disruptors, among other impurities.e,
Most critically, these regulations are reactive rather than proactive. New contaminants must go through lengthy regulatory processes before being controlled. Just look at PFAS: They’ve been in use for decades, yet only now are they being regulated.
This underscores why it’s vital that city leaders prioritize modern technologies and leverage private and public sector dollars. We have the means to eliminate contaminants at the molecular level with no waste. Chemicals and membranes can be a thing of the past; we have the tools to deliver clean water across cities in a rapid and efficient time frame.
