This is the fifth article in Buildipedia's series on U.S. Infrastructure, following the January 8, 2010 feature on dams, "It’s About Dam Time!"

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ DRINKING WATER infrastructure a grade of “D-” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Easy access to fresh water is a modern convenience that we might take for granted in our daily lives.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. This is the simplest mantra of the environmental movement and the guiding principle for families and small programs across the nation. How does this principle apply to infrastructure, specifically asphalt pavement? We already use as little asphalt pavement as we can, but this is more an economic decision. We recycle asphalt pavement to build new pavement. We reuse it as clean fill. What else can we do with it? Can we use it to collect solar energy?

Located in Freeport, Pennsylvania, about a 30 minute drive north of Pittsburgh, Buffalo Township’s water treatment plant produces over 700,000 gallons of fresh water daily. The plant provides drinking water to over 5,000 residents in Buffalo Township and Freeport Borough. It is also the fresh water supplier for the Municipal Authority of South Buffalo Township. Join Buildipedia for a photo tour of Buffalo Township’s water treatment plant, as we trace the flow of water from the Allegheny River to its distribution throughout the utility.

The goal of potable water disinfection is the destruction of pathogens (primarily bacteria) that can cause human disease.  Disinfection is the final treatment process applied to a surface water supply before community use (following coagulation, sedimentation, and filtration) in most municipal water services.  Many of the pathogens are already removed before disinfection by this multi-stage treatment process, allowing the chemical agents used in disinfection to be highly effective.  Deep drinking wells are often not disinfected because underground environments, including the natural filtering of aquifers that occurs as groundwater moves through soils, are not conducive to pathogen survival.  However, well water consumed via a community piping system or shallow wells subject to surface water infiltration should be disinfected.