Hello All,
I wanted to post here today to bring an issue to the attention of the rest of my generation that will affect our future if we do not start to fix the United States' water infrastructure.
Most of America's water systems are, on average, over 50 years old. Over 300,000 water main breaks occur every year. Systems across the USA need replacement.
The water infrastructure in most developed countries is aging and failing, and we haven’t taken any steps to upgrade it yet. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts that there will be an $84.4 billion gap by 2020 between what we’re spending on water infrastructure and what is needed. Without upgrades, the U.S. is facing a loss of $416 billion in GDP. The American Water Works Association predicts that over the next 25 years the United States will spend over $540 billion in fixing the infrastructure. Every year alone this country loses about $9 billion on Non-Revenue Water loss, water that is treated and made that never even reaches the faucet.
And this crisis as already begun to affect the lives of some. In Flint, Michigan the infrastructure contained corrosive water that was burning through service lines and solders—and those contained lead. In some cases, scientist found lead readings of the water in Flint at 1,250 parts per billion. The EPA’s threshold for lead is 15 ppb. Health effects of lead exposure in children includes impaired cognition, behavioral disorders, hearing problems and delayed puberty. In pregnant women, lead is associated with reduced fetal growth. In everyone, lead consumption can affect the heart, kidneys and nerves. Although there are medications that may reduce the amount of lead in the blood, treatments for the adverse health effects of lead have yet to be develop. And this is just the beginning of America's water crisis.
In the mid-2000s, Michael Burry (The character Christain Bale portrayed in Oscar Nominated "The Big Short") successfully predicted the housing bubble collapse in 2008 and made billions betting against Wall Street. Today, Mr. Burry only invests in one commodity and believes it will be the next collapse of the U.S. economy - water.
Today we must make our country's representatives address this crisis and begin to replace America's infrastructure. Otherwise more children, pregnant women, and all American citizens will continue to get sick. Please help me to spread the word to all about investing and finding a solution to our country's failing and aging infrastructure.