The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of $30 million in grant funding to strengthen water services in small and rural communities across the United States. This newly available funding supports technical assistance and training to benefit small drinking water and wastewater systems and to help private well owners improve drinking water quality. The funding forms part of the agency’s Real Water Technical Assistance initiative (RealWaterTA).
The RealWaterTA programme helps connect small and rural drinking water and wastewater systems with established services, including engineering and design expertise, operational support, workforce development and financial management.
More than 90% of U.S. drinking water systems serve populations of fewer than 10,000 people. Many of these systems face operational difficulties, including aging infrastructure, workforce shortages and limited financial capacity. The new funding will support organisations working directly with these communities to improve system performance and resilience.
Eligible applicants include nonprofit organisations, nonprofit private universities and colleges, and public institutions of higher education. The agency expects to award up to five grants, with total funding reaching approximately $30.7 million.
The purpose of the agreements is to provide training and technical assistance to:
- Small public water systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act
- Small public water systems on managerial and/or financial topics that support compliance
- Small publicly owned wastewater systems and communities served by onsite-decentralised wastewater systems to strengthen local water resources
- Private well owners to help improve drinking water quality
