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EPA lends D.C. $156 million to replace century-old water mains across the city
The District of Columbia willuse a large loan from the federal government to replace some of the century-old water mains carrying drinking water throughout the city, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan announced Thursday.
The $156 million loan comes at a lower interest rate than D.C. Water’s ordinary cost of borrowing to finance water main repairs, and will save the utility about $30 million in interest, D.C. Water chief executive David Gadis said.
The utility can pass on some savings to customers and use some to complete further repairs on a faster schedule than originally planned.
Gadis said D.C. Water will rip out aging water mains in every ward of the city, many of which were installed in 1914, and replace them with new pipes that should be less likely to break and will provide clean drinking water for at least 50 years.