2025 Brings Focus On Critical Water Infrastructure Modernization
By Emily Newton

Local municipalities’ water workers will be working hard in 2025 to install infrastructure upgrades. Modernization is long overdue, and the consequence of holding onto the old is stalling the implementation of the new. How will cities and utility companies collaborate to ensure the coming year breathes new life into water infrastructure?
Why Water Infrastructure Needs An Overhaul
Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers releases a report card detailing the current state of American infrastructure, which includes 2.2 million miles of pipes. It performed the last review in 2021, in which drinking water received a C- grade. The main concerns were inadequate funding and how old the pipes were. They could transport safe drinking water, but a water main break happens every two minutes in the nation. Their stability is in question.
Unfortunately, investments in water infrastructure upgrades have not matched national needs for years. This must change in 2025. Water workers face these burdens while still paying for expensive compliance audits and increasing maintenance costs. Operational expenses are rising, too. While these are problems in the U.S., they are also worldwide issues.
A collection of surveys tallied the amount the U.S. needs to fund a complete overhaul. When considering drinking water infrastructure alongside wastewater and stormwater, America must front $1.2 trillion in the next 20 years. This would meet the standards of the Clean Water Act and get rid of millions of pipes reaching the end of their lifecycle. These are some of the initiatives the money must fund:
- Nonpoint source control
- Decentralized wastewater treatment
- Job vacancies in the water industry
- Research on emerging contaminants
- Wastewater recycling
- Treatment plant improvements and expansion
How Natural Disaster Resilience Relates To Water Upgrades
Natural disaster resilience would be another expense governments must consider. Critical water infrastructure is vulnerable because of its age, primarily when overwhelmed with floodwaters. Pipes that split and burst cause more damage to communities on top of the catastrophic impact on cars, homes, and resources.
In these scenarios, governmental spending must divert money to rebuilding and recovery instead of reinforcing pipes and treatment equipment. The strategy often encourages temporary fixes to water infrastructure instead of permanent replacements. The neglect will continue as severe weather events rise and infrastructure is dismissed as a priority.
Neighborhoods feel this neglect, including Prichard, Alabama. The town suffers from intense floods and fires because of its failing water systems. Leaks cause it to lose 60% of its purchased freshwater monthly. New water infrastructure would provide more stability to fend off intense weather.
The refusal to tend to water infrastructure upgrades also highlights an environmental justice issue, as Prichard is a predominantly Black town. Minority communities with people of color, individuals with disabilities and others face disproportionate climate concerns. Inattentiveness to water infrastructure deepens societal injustices and places undue pressure on these households. Towns like Prichard would need adaptive, dynamic water infrastructure in addition to increased durability.
Enhancing resilience is possible with various budgetary capabilities. Water companies could start by using reconditioned equipment, which boosts durability and sustainability at a fraction of the cost of new. Communities could also find ways to diversify water resources, such as installing residential rainwater harvesting systems or educating on treated water reuse.
Water Infrastructure Upgrades To Expect In 2025
These are the most innovative solutions waterworks have devised, knowing the conditions and how they should allocate money and resources.
Changing the 100-Year Flood Model
While this is not a tangible upgrade, the workforce must use new predictive and analytics techniques to inform the future. Water experts have used the triple bottom line and 100-year flood model for decades, which has leveraged past data to understand future needs.
However, the past no longer accurately reflects the coming years. Individual and corporate consumption has escalated alongside the pervasiveness of water scarcity. Simultaneously, rainfall patterns are as unpredictable as ever. These similarities between past water patterns and modern realities are becoming more dissimilar by the year.
Some suggest only looking at the last several decades of storms instead because they encompass the intensity more closely resembling modern trends. Extending the view to the past century would skew understanding too much and underestimate the genuine rework water infrastructure requires.
Adopting Lean Water Treatment
Treatment facilities encounter new contaminants yearly. They are responsible for discovering how to remove them to make nations safer. The research requires money and time, in addition to the energy- and labor-intensive operational treatment activities.
Instituting lean ideologies — where organizations cut energy and resources to run more productively — encourages technological innovation. This opens doors for treating water more comprehensively.
For example, some plants are implementing membrane-aerated biofilm reactors (MABR). A conventional activate sludge plant only needed one-fifth of its normal energy requirements for nutrient removal compared to traditional strategies. Lowering power demands like this with more effective technology means treatment plants can move faster toward clearing emerging pollutants.
Installing Next-Generation Sensor Technologies
Imagine remotely monitoring every aspect of water infrastructure, from pumps to aeration tanks. Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) include advanced noise loggers, accelerometers, hydrophones, and more to detect leaks and hazards earlier than traditional oversight processes. These tiny devices are some of the most accurate on the market, with fast, in-pipe installation, alarm systems, and long-range communications.
Wastewater workers should also consider setups like supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. These collect data for numerous applications. For example, companies can enter the information into a digital twin to simulate a new facility blueprint.
The programs could determine their effectiveness as well as their potential pain points. These are accurate portrayals of what water projects could look like, which prevents resource and time wastage. Companies and investors are more likely to build something state-of-the-art on the first try instead of relying on retrofits to meet modern expectations.
Advocating For Legislation
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was passed in 2021 and includes $50 billion to boost the nation’s water assets and supply, with $13 billion distributed so far. The project awarded money to each state to focus on the most pressing issues. The coming year will prove how federal backing is a main driver for widespread systemic development because more states will receive funds and break ground on projects. These will include:
- Addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
- Empowering disadvantaged communities
- Revitalizing the water workforce
- Replacing lead service lines
What are some of the initiatives underway because of these funds? In Edmond, Oklahoma, water workers are renewing the intake structure for its main water distribution and flood control source, Arcadia Lake. It will cost $20 million and require several construction phases, but it will bring peace back to this community.
Another success story lies in Silver Lake, Minnesota. Its main dam serves the community well, but it has damaged the lake’s ecosystem. Fixing these issues requires a balance of modern dam modifications and environmental remediation, like sediment removal. These projects will promise a brighter future for aquatic life and the city’s stormwater drainage efficiency.
Modern Needs Demand Modern Infrastructure
Countless towns are projecting increased rainfall in the coming years. Compounding this concern on population growth, which signals high water demand, will burden even the most prepared communities. These reasons are why water workers will focus on modernization and upgrades in 2025. Organizations, contractors, and governments must use this motivation in their decision-making for the coming year to defend and improve society.
About The Author
Emily Newton is an industrial journalist. She regularly covers stories for the utilities and energy sectors. Emily is also editor in chief of Revolutionized (revolutionized.com).