On February 3, President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to the Belmont Water Treatment Plant in Philadelphia. There, they announced that $500 million in federal funding would be committed to strengthening the city’s water infrastructure and replacing lead pipes. $160 million has been dedicated to the City of Philadelphia to revamp water facilities, and replace almost 20 miles of water mains (in addition to any connected lead service lines). The other $340 million is a loan from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of the Water and Infrastructure Innovation Act (WIFA). A fraction of this loan is committed to replace lead lines and watermains.
These efforts for greater water quality and accessibility are part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal that Congress passed. Funding is sourced from the $55 billion that this deal dedicated to broadening clean water access. Currently, the Biden team wants to demonstrate that this deal is yielding results.
In the speech Biden made on February 3rd, he stated that “Every American deserves to be able to turn on their water tap or faucet and be able to drink clean water.” He continued to speak about the millions of households and buildings with exposure to lead pipes, and the dire negative health implications, saying, “Ten million families across the country and hundreds of thousands of schools and… daycare centers exist that their water is pumped through lead pipes, lead valves, and lead fixtures”.
As many studies have shown, and as the EPA states, lead contaminated drinking water can spark a litany of health problems. Lead exposure often leads to worsened kidney function, cardiovascular problems, and reproductive challenges. In children, even small doses of lead can damage their central and peripheral nervous system, hearing, blood cells, and cause learning disabilities. There are also detrimental effects on women’s pregnancies and their baby’s health. It is obviously of the utmost importance that infrastructure projects, such as Biden’s, are dedicated to restoring water pipelines and more.
While these are strides being taken for the health of Philadelphians which will also create many new jobs, Biden’s announcement coincides with a coming increase of water rates for Philadelphia customers. According to WHYY, “The announcement comes as the city has proposed to increase water rates over the next two years. A customer’s monthly bill could increase almost 12% in the first year, which would average about $8 a month, according to the water department. Customers would also face an 8.2% increase in the second year, which would raise the typical residential water bill by $6.45 a month.”
Due to the fact that individuals in Philadelphia are responsible for maintaining plumbing, difficulties arise when replacing lead pipes owned by private or non-city properties. In an ideal world, federal funding would take the brunt of higher rates, rather than customer — especially to sustain long term infrastructure projects.
