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In addition to needs for water supply and infrastructure, the water
industry is impacted by a range of environmental regulations designed
to improve the quality and safety of water supplies. Requirements for
water and wastewater treatment and water resource management generate
demand growth in the technology and services segments of the water
industry, though they impose costs on utilities that must be passed
along to customers.
The level of
environmental regulations varies around the world. The U.S. and the
European Union have been among the most aggressive in enactment of
environmental regulations impacting water, resulting in large capital
spending programs over the past decade, with additional requirements to
come. However, we are also seeing emerging nations take a more
activist role in protecting water supplies, since water quality and
availability is critical to economic growth. For example, the Chinese
government has begun to implement environmental controls on wastewater
discharges, since needed water supplies were becoming so polluted.
Here is a list of key environmental laws and regulations impacting the
water industry in the U.S. Similar rules exist in other parts of the
world, particularly in Europe, where the European Union has taken an
active role in water quality regulation.
- Clean Water Act of 1976
- Controls industrial and municipal discharges to surface water and groundwater
- Safe Drinking Water Act of 1984
- More than 200 potential contaminants must be monitored and controlled
- Arsenic Rule – January 2001
- Reduces arsenic levels from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb
- Beginning to drive demand for ion exchange and other treatment technologies
- Estimated capital costs of $900 million in next 5-8 years
- Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2) – December 2005
- Will reduce pathogens in surface waters
- Will drive demand for monitoring, membrane filtration, and UV treatment
- Estimated capital costs of $2 billion in next 6-12 years
- Stage 2 Disinfectant/Disinfection By-Product Rule – December 2005
- Will limit exposure to chlorine by-products in municipal water systems
- Will drive demand for UV and other alternative disinfection systems
- Estimated capital costs of $850 million in next 6-12 years
- Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Rules – some rules completed more pending
- Sewer overflows cause up to 850 billion gallons of wastewater discharges per year
- Rules requiring overflow controls will drive demand for infrastructure equipment and services
- Estimated compliance costs of up to $140 billion over next 20 years
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