U.S. municipalities looking to address sewer and stormwater infrastructure needs will soon have access to a new funding mechanism for those projects.
In May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of nearly $41 million in funding through the Sewer Overflow and Stormwater Reuse Municipal Grant program.
The funding is available to states to support projects in cities and towns that will strengthen their stormwater collection systems to be more resilient against increasingly intense rain events made worse by the climate crisis.
“Our nation’s waterways are vital to healthy communities,” EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, Bruno Pigott, said in an EPA press release. “They provide sources of drinking water, support farming, power economic opportunity, and give us opportunities to swim and to fish. Keeping our waterways clean and safe is essential, and stormwater runoff is one of the biggest pollution challenges facing our water ecosystems… EPA is making grant funds available for stormwater solutions. Because it does not have to be paid back, this funding is especially effective in helping disadvantaged communities protect their waterways.”
America’s stormwater infrastructure received a D, and its wastewater infrastructure a D+ in the latest American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Sewer lines in the U.S. are, on average, 45 years old and at 81% capacity. And the country experiences 70,000 sanitary sewer overflows annually.
According to the ASCE, nearly 600,000 miles of rivers and streams, and more than 13 million acres of lakes, reservoirs, and ponds are considered impaired by polluted stormwater.
The expansion of urban development has stretched the nation’s 16,000 wastewater treatment plants to 81% capacity, with 15% reaching or exceeding capacity.
And while most municipalities across the country today have separate sanitary sewer systems, there are still approximately 700 communities operating on combined sewer systems where both wastewater and stormwater flow through the same pipes. This amplifies the negative effects of stormwater runoff, further overwhelming already taxed infrastructure and sending pollution into some of our most vital waterways.
The EPA’s new grant program will prioritize stormwater infrastructure projects in small and/or financially distressed and disadvantaged communities and prevent cost share requirements from being passed on to these communities.
Additional funds are available for stormwater and wastewater upgrades through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program.
GPRS Helps Protect, Maintain, and Improve Storm and Sewer Systems
GPRS’ Video Pipe Inspection service can help you determine if a sewer line needs to be repaired or completely replaced. Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers can inspect sewer and storm pipes and provide detailed reports on the interior condition of these pipes that includes a list of all defects, geolocated, ranked by severity, and identified with both photographic and video evidence.
Utilizing ground penetrating radar (GPR) scanning, and electromagnetic (EM) locating, we can locate and map all your existing utilities to ensure you don’t damage them when conducting repairs and/or improvements. And with SiteMap® (patent pending), powered by GPRS, all this field-verified data is at your fingertips 24/7 from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.
From sewer lines to skyscrapers, GPRS Intelligently Visualizes The Built World® to keep your projects on time, on budget, and safe.
What can we help you visualize?
Frequently Asked Questions
What size pipes can GPRS inspect?
Our NASSCO-certified Project Managers have the capabilities to inspect pipes from 2” in diameter and up.
Can you locate pipes in addition to evaluating their integrity?
Yes, our SIM and NASSCO-certified Project Managers use sewer inspection technology equipped with sondes, which are instrument probes that allow them to ascertain the location of underground utilities from an inaccessible location. This allows them to use electromagnetic (EM) locating to map sewer systems at the same time they’re evaluating them for defects.
What deliverables does GPRS offer when conducting a video pipe inspection?
GPRS is proud to offer WinCan reporting to our Video Pipe Inspection clients. Maintaining sewers starts with understanding sewer condition, and WinCan allows GPRS Project Managers to collect detailed, NASSCO-compliant inspection data. GPRS Project Managers not only inspect the interior condition of sewer pipes, laterals, and manholes – they can also provide a map of their location. The GPRS Mapping & Modeling Department can provide detailed GPS overlays and CAD files. Our detailed WinCan/NASSCO reports contain screenshots of the interior condition of the pipe segments that we inspect, as well as a video file for further evaluation, documentation, and/or reference.
