Almost $246 million has flowed into Black Belt water systems since 2021, ADEM says

Almost $246 million has flowed into the Black Belt to improve municipal drinking water and waste water systems since 2021, according to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

ADEM said they have funded 181 projects to improve and upgrade water systems in the Black Belt since 2021. That includes 93 projects related to drinking water for a total of $146 million and 88 projects related to waste water for a total of $125 million.

Fifty-three more projects are pending, consisting of 31 drinking water projects totaling $53 million and 22 waste water projects totaling $51 million, according to ADEM.

The totals are for water projects in Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter and Wilcox counties, according to ADEM.

Statewide ADEM has awarded grants of $1.9 billion to municipal drinking water and wastewater systems. The 905 projects – 467 drinking water and 439 wastewater – spanned all 67 counties in Alabama, and ADEM prioritized funding based on need, ADEM said in a news release.

The funding was provided through the State Revolving Fund, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the American Rescue Plan Act. Many of the water systems awarded funding faced infrastructure needs going back decades due to age, increased demand and the need to provide services to people who were unserved or underserved.

ADEM has been providing funding to drinking water and wastewater systems through its SRF program since 1988.

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“I am extremely appreciative of the substantial funding that flows through these programs to our water systems,” ADEM Director Edward Poolos said. “They make possible the many projects that are essential to providing safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services that our citizens depend on.”

Interestingly, the iron pipe used for these projects and every water project in the nation are produced in Alabama. All three of the nation’s domestic Ductile Iron Pipe producers – AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company, McWane and U.S. Pipe – are headquartered in Birmingham.

More than 4,000 Alabamians work in the iron pipe industry, according to ADEM.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Administrator Kevin McOmber and Poolos recently toured Ductile Iron Pipe and fittings manufacturing facilities across Alabama.