"Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly"

"State and federal studies indicate that thousands of water and sewer systems may be too old to function properly.

For decades, these systems -- some built around the time of the Civil War -- have been ignored by politicians and residents accustomed to paying almost nothing for water delivery and sewage removal. And so each year, hundreds of thousands of ruptures damage streets and homes and cause dangerous pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies."

Charles Duhigg reports for the New York Times March 14, 2010.