The Potomac Sewage Spill Is a Reminder that We Need to Fund Our Nation’s Wastewater Infrastructure

On January 19, 2026, a section of a large sewer pipe known as the Potomac Interceptor collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway in Maryland. This pipe normally carries wastewater from communities in Virginia and Maryland to Washington, D.C.’s Blue Plains treatment plant. When it broke, raw sewage flowed into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and from there, into the Potomac. Estimates vary, but officials believe somewhere between 240 million and 300 million gallons were released before crews could divert most of the flow.  

Local water agencies and emergency teams moved quickly. DC Water installed pumps and a temporary bypass to reroute sewage around the damaged section while permanent repairs are completed. Meanwhile, local agencies posted warnings advising people to stay out of the water. Some downstream shellfish beds were temporarily closed. People worried about wildlife, recreation, and their own safety. Fortunately, drinking water drawn for the region comes from upstream of the break, so tap water remained safe. 

As of early March, no new contamination is entering the river from the break, and bacteria levels in D.C.’s part of the Potomac have dropped enough that officials have lifted the recreational advisory. Crews continue to work on repairs, but the full fix will take months, followed by continuing work on a larger preplanned rehabilitation effort that will take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.  

The Potomac Interceptor was built in the early 1960s. Much of the country’s wastewater infrastructure is just as old or older, and pipes tend to break down as they age. Without enough investment to repair and replace them, failures like this become increasingly unavoidable. 

Every few years, the federal government conducts a nationwide assessment of how much work our wastewater systems need in order to remain in a state of good repair and meet health and environmental standards. The estimate includes things like replacing old pipes, fixing pump stations, upgrading treatment plants, and building better systems to manage stormwater. The most recent survey put the national price tag at roughly $630 billion over the next 20 years, an amount that has grown dramatically in just the last decade.  

While that number is eye-popping on its own, what should really concern us is the fact that these needs far outstrip the amount we’re spending. Independent analyses show that our communities are currently meeting only about one-third of the nation’s wastewater and stormwater capital needs. That leaves a growing gap—tens of billions of dollars annually—between what our infrastructure requires and what we’re paying to maintain it. Utilities try to fill the gap by raising rates, but that puts pressure on families. When local ratepayers shoulder almost all the costs, repairs get delayed, systems fall further behind, and the cycle repeats. 

This is not just a math problem. When infrastructure investment lags, consequences show up in our communities: sewer overflows when it rains, flooded basements, boil-water advisories, and, in the worst cases, large-scale pipe failures like the one on the Potomac. 

Communities aren’t ignoring the issue. They’re simply strapped. In most places, local and state governments cover 95 percent or more of the cost of water and sewer infrastructure. Meanwhile, federal support—once a major source of construction funding in the 1970s and 1980s—has declined significantly. Only in the past few years have we seen federal investment tick upward again.  

But even with recent boosts, we are still nowhere close to what’s needed. 

While the Potomac spill felt especially dramatic because it unfolded in a major metropolitan area, the underlying story is the same across the country: aging systems trying to meet today’s challenges with scarce resources. 

Aging pipes and plants 

Many sewer systems were built in the mid-20th century or earlier. Pipes designed for 50 years of service are now reaching twice that age or more. Treatment plants need new equipment. Pump stations need upgrades. Each year that communities postpone these fixes, the price—in both dollars and risk—goes up. 

More intense and unpredictable weather 

Climate change is putting additional stress on our sewer infrastructure. Stronger rainstorms are overwhelming systems that were never designed for this kind of weather. When stormwater and sewage share the same pipes, too much rain can trigger overflows of untreated waste. Even separate systems can struggle if storms knock out power or overwhelm pump stations. Rising sea levels and tidal flooding inundate wastewater treatment facilities on the coasts. Temperature changes are creating challenges for biological treatment processes that rely on bacteria and other microorganisms. 

New contaminants and stricter standards 

Our sewer systems also have to deal with pollutants that weren’t on anyone’s radar when these pipes were built. Disposing of “forever chemicals” like PFAS in our wastewater streams and meeting other updated treatment standards require new upgrades—and new funding. These projects are essential for public health, but they add to the financial load at a time when budgets are already stretched thin. 

All these pressures—aging systems, changing weather, new contaminants—fall on the shoulders of our local communities. And without federal partnership, the burden becomes too heavy to carry alone. 

There is a federal program designed to help with exactly these problems: the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. While it has been chronically underfunded, it is nonetheless the single-most important source of federal support for wastewater infrastructure. 

This program works like a reliable, publicly subsidized line of credit. Congress provides annual funding to states, states add a small match, and then communities borrow from those state funds at very low interest rates. When they pay the loans back, the money flows into the state coffers again, ready for the next project—which is why they’re called “revolving” funds. 

Importantly, states can also offer a certain percentage of funding in the form of principal forgiveness (in effect, grants) for communities that can’t shoulder the debt alone. For small utilities or places with larger populations of low-income residents, this extra support can make the difference between tackling critical repairs or letting problems go unaddressed. 

Over the decades, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund has helped finance thousands of projects nationwide, from sewer replacements to plant expansions and upgrades that protect water quality in our rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans. It’s popular, efficient, and adaptable. And while it lacks the funding to address wastewater problems everywhere, it’s still a lifeline for the kinds of repairs that are needed to prevent another Potomac-style failure. 

Back in 2021, Congress passed a major infrastructure bill that provided a short-term infusion of supplemental funding to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program, to the tune of $12.7 billion over a five-year period. This was welcome news: Communities had access to more resources, and the extra federal support helped take some of the pressure off local ratepayers. In fact, it was the single-largest investment in water infrastructure that the federal government had ever made. 

But here’s the catch: Those extra funds will expire this year. 

Once the temporary boost ends, federal wastewater funding will fall back to its previous levels—amounts that were already far too low to meet the nation’s needs. Communities that had begun planning long-delayed projects may find themselves unable to access the financing they need to move forward. 

The Potomac spill shows what’s at stake. Without sustained investment, we can expect more of the same: more infrastructure failures, more costs passed to residents, and more environmental damage that could have been prevented. 

The most important thing we can do to avoid future sewage catastrophes is straightforward: increase investments in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to keep pace with—or exceed—the levels provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Utilities rely on this funding every single year to repair aging pipes, modernize treatment plants, and protect public health. They made real progress when Congress gave them more money to work with, and now we need to keep the momentum going. 

Increasing this funding would allow: 

• More communities to fix potentially dangerous problems before they become emergencies.
• Lower-income areas to afford repairs and upgrades without pricing residents out of basic utilities.
• States to develop multiyear investment plans with confidence instead of scrambling year to year.
• Utilities to keep rates reasonable instead of forcing households to absorb the full cost of necessary improvements. 

At a time when so many households already struggle to pay their water and sewer bills, increasing federal investment is one of the most effective steps that Congress can take to keep wastewater services affordable. 

The Potomac incident should be the last warning we need. That pipe was no older, no more burdened, and no more fragile than countless others across the country. Many of them are out of sight, out of mind—and out of time. 

We can wait for the next collapse and hope for the best, or we can use what we’ve learned to make proactive investments that prevent disasters instead of reacting to them. The cost of doing nothing is far higher than the cost of fixing the problem now. 

We have a chance to choose the better path. This year’s congressional appropriations will determine whether states and communities have the resources they need to protect our rivers, our health, and our wallets. Increasing investments in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund is one of the smartest and most cost-effective investments we can make—not just for the Potomac but for every waterway and community across the country.