FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Jim Kohlschreiber
314-576-6344 – jkohlschreiber@pipeliningplus.com
4-22-2008

Public Education Program Shows Value of America’s Water and Wastewater
Infrastructure

St. Louis, MO – Imagine turning on the kitchen faucet one day and finding the tap dry or
a storm drain near the school playground bubbling over with raw sewage. For many
communities across the United States these are symptoms of a hidden problem
that’s about to surface: our nation’s water and wastewater systems are old and falling apart.

To help St. Louis Metropolitan area residents better understand the issue and learn how
they can help, Pipe Lining Plus has partnered with the Water Environment Federation
(WEF) on a new public education program called Water Is Life, and Infrastructure Makes
It Happen™. Designed as an on-going grassroots effort, the program’s goal is to show
the value of water and wastewater infrastructure and the importance of investing in its
long-term stability.

“Together we are helping our regions residents use water resources more efficiently, to
preserve them for future generations and to reduce water and wastewater infrastructure
costs. It’s a shared responsibility by everyone,” according to Jim Kohlschreiber

Much of our nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure – the systems that treat,
distribute, collect, and clean water – was built nearly a century ago for a much smaller
population. Today, utilities must service expanding communities and meet new
regulatory requirements with aging, overburdened systems, and shrinking budgets.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that over 20 percent of drinking
water is lost and 1.2 trillion gallons of storm water and wastewater overflows every
yeardue to leaks and breaks in 800,000 miles of water pipe and 600,000 miles of
sewer line across the country.

In recent years, the level of investment by federal and state governments has declined
dramatically and in many cases, current utility rates paid by customers do not reflect the
true cost of service. Delaying action on water-related projects will only increase the cost
in the future. “The costs of water and wastewater services can no longer be subsidized
or hidden,” said WEF Executive Director Bill Bertera. “It is our hope that this program will
contribute to the public’s understanding of the issues surrounding the vital importance of
clean and safe water to public health, the environment, economic prosperity and what the
cost of delivering that clean and safe water is to their community.”

Water Is Life, and Infrastructure Makes It Happen™ aims to inform the general public,
ratepayers, opinion leaders, and elected officials about the following:

• The value of water in sustaining and enhancing life.
• The role of water infrastructure in delivering clean, safe water to our homes
  and businesses.
• The role of wastewater infrastructure in cleaning water and safely returning it
  to the environment to be used again.
• Water and wastewater infrastructure as a valuable community asset and the
  current backlog of water infrastructure investment needs.