To supply the nation’s homes and businesses with water, the United States depends on a country-wide network of aging underground pipes, many of which are reaching, or have exceeded, the end of their useful life.
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Yet the tendency to leave older infrastructure alone may be a luxury we can no longer afford when it comes to one of the United States’ most important resources: water. The emphasis has generally been on expansion, not replacement and upgrade. However, inventions that required substantial infrastructure to build, such as railway lines and water pipes, have typically been put into place and then largely ignored. Many of the critical inventions of these successive periods of productivity growth are assets that are constantly renewed as old or outdated equipment is replaced by newer and better models. View related infographic online Click here Clearly, both of these phases ignited periods of strong productivity growth-and the third phase, the computer and Internet revolution, has sparked productivity increases as well (although Gordon himself has been less than impressed with the third phase’s productivity potential). He defined the second phase as the period from 1879 to 1900, which saw the invention of running water with indoor plumbing along with electricity and the internal combustion engine. When economist Robert Gordon categorized the three phases of industrial revolution, he designated the first phase as the period between 17, when the steam engine, mechanized cotton spinning, and railroads were invented. It is often only when failures occur that we are reminded of how much we take for granted our access to safe drinking water.
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However, one of the most critical aspects of the United States’ aging infrastructure is literally buried underground, out of sight and, usually, out of mind. The sad shape of many of our highways, bridges, and transit systems is very evident as we dodge potholes and hope that our train will eventually arrive. The United States’ water infrastructure needs an overhaul, and the cost of doing so is climbing rapidly.