Public Health for Rural Communities

Water is a vital resource and is required for all aspects of daily life, including drinking, cooking, washing, and flushing. In order to protect public health, all Americans should have access to this resource through reliable infrastructure. Rural America’s 46.1 million residents deserve safe drinking water and clean wastewater treatment just as much as urban or metropolitan residents. While access to basic water infrastructure may be taken for granted by many American citizens, it still is not a reality for approximately 146,000 rural households. For the 27,500 public elementary and secondary schools, approximately 9.8 million students, and 1,810 hospitals in rural America, public health would be immediately jeopardized without safe drinking water and clean wastewater treatment. Even for established water and wastewater systems, new regulations such as EPA’s recent PFAS and Lead and Copper Rules results in costly operational and infrastructure upgrades. USDA RD WEP ensures rural America and its communities have access to funding when they are faced with making these upgrades to remain in compliance.