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Aging Water Infrastructure Warrants Funds: 3 Stocks in Focus

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The U.S. water and wastewater infrastructure comprises nearly 2.2 million miles of underground pipelines, which are aging and gradually approaching toward the end of effective service life. As a consequence, frequent water main breakages are being reported, resulting in the wastage of precious potable water.

Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, water main breaks occur every two minutes in the United States. Pipeline breaks result in the wastage of 6 billion gallons of potable water each day and add to the loss of water utility operators. The pipeline breaks not only increase the cost of water services but also expose it to the possibility of contamination.

It is quite evident now that replacement and maintenance of the aging U.S. water and wastewater infrastructure on a regular basis can solve this problem. Per the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, an estimated $750 billion investment is necessary to maintain and expand drinking water as well as wastewater services to meet demand over the next 20 years.

Planned Investments in Water Space

The requirement to upgrade the water and wastewater infrastructure is quite staggering but is absolutely essential so that millions of Americans receive 24x7 uninterrupted water as well as wastewater services.

The U.S. government, through the “American Jobs Plan”, unveiled that it will invest $111 billion for the aging water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 10-year period. Definitely, these investments will be helpful for upgrading the aging infrastructure but the requirement is larger.

Stocks in the Zacks Utility Water Supply industry like American Water Works (AWK - Free Report) , Essential Utilities (WTRG - Free Report) and California Water Services (CWT - Free Report) , among others, are making substantial investment on an annual basis to upgrade as well as maintain the aging infrastructure. These stocks currently have a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

American Water Works makes regular investments in its infrastructure to upgrade, enhance and maintain the same. The company has plans to invest $10.4 billion between 2021 and 2025 and $22-$25 billion in the next decade. Essential Utilities is making regular investments to upgrade the existing water and wastewater systems. Its long-term plan is to invest nearly $3 billion through 2023 to rehabilitate and strengthen water as well as natural gas pipeline systems. California Water Service plans to invest in the range of $270-$300 million in 2021 to strengthen its water and wastewater infrastructure.

These investments will allow the water utilities to minimize their losses, increase efficiency to provide services to customers and ensure proper flow of water for fire fighters. Stoppage of water leaks will result in more potable water in the pipeline system and allow the utilities to provide water to a bigger customer base without increasing their water generation. This in turn will lower the cost of producing water for utility operators.

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