Drinking Water News Roundup: New water infrastructure funding, projects, programs

From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.

Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.

Click on the headline to read the full story:

Indiana:

• Water renovation project extends municipal water access to hundreds – The Indiana Gazette

Prior to the approximately $12 million project that connected Plumville and Crooked Creek water treatment plants, most residents in the area as well as the school district relied on well water.

Michigan:

• After a year on bottled water, Benton Harbor nears end of lead pipe removals – MLive

• Toxic arsenic levels make tap water unsafe for thousands in New York City – The Guardian

Dangerous levels of arsenic were found in a public housing complex in New York City, leaving thousands of residents without safe tap water.

• Three north country municipalities selected for N.Y. water infrastructure program – Watertown Daily Times

• Wayne County to receive $500K for improved drinking water –  Ashland Source

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio EPA Director Laurie A. Stevenson announced that $2.5 million in H2Ohio grants will go to four local communities to help improve drinking water quality and to repair or replace aging water and wastewater infrastructure.

Pennsylvania: 

• Pennsylvania Receives $240 Million to Improve Water Infrastructure – Water and Wastes Digest

• A town employee quietly lowered the fluoride in water for years – NPR

Residents of a small community in Vermont were blindsided last month by news that one official in their water department quietly lowered fluoride levels nearly four years ago, giving rise to worries about their children’s dental health and transparent government.

• Climate perils mount for America’s water utilities – E&E News