Water infrastructure plays a critical role in protecting public health, promoting economic prosperity, and ensuring a good quality of life. Once water is used, it contains pollutants that must be removed and treated before release. Historically, Americans counted on its streams, rivers, and even the ocean to dilute and carry away their waste. In the nineteenth century, Boston built the country's 1st modern sewer system, which pumped sewage into Boston Harbor to drift out to sea. But by the twentieth century, dilution was no longer a viable approach, and new methods were needed for treating the huge volumes of waste generated by a growing city.

Wastewater Today

Today, throughout the country, multimillion-dollar wastewater treatment plants clean wastewater by removing solids, settling out microscopic particles, decomposing toxic materials, and disinfecting. When effluent (treated wastewater) is released back into the watershed, it combines with other waters that eventually flow into the intakes of drinking water treatment plants and back to the faucets in households and businesses. It is an endless hydrologic cycle.

Renewing the Water Workforce June 2018