NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                    SEPTEMBER 2013

Upgrade Projects Costing $ Billions Underway At North American Municipal Drinking Water Plants

The 18,000 plants in North America which are extracting water and purifying it for residential, commercial and industrial use have committed to spend $ billions to upgrade their facilities. These projects are tracked bi-weekly in the McIlvaine North American Public Water Plants and People. 

Types of expenditures can be classified as new facilities to expand supply, new facilities to replace facilities being retired, upgrading of older facilities and routine maintenance and replacement. In North America, the upgrades are the leading sector in terms of investment.

Upgrades can be triggered by consumer demand for better quality, new regulations limiting contamination levels, improved reliability or by maintenance reduction.

Many of the upgrades are taking place at plants which are more than 50 years old. Some operators have scheduled major upgrades every 20 years.

For more information on North American Public Water Plants and People, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/databases/27-water/477-67ei