(Photo: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean) State environmental officials asked Tennessee Gov.
Bill Lee for more funding to repair and upgrade municipal water and sewer infrastructure on Tuesday.
Without the required maintenance, old pipes can burst, sewage can back up and cities can’t grow.
A focus on rural, small towns One of the Lee administration’s top priorities is rural economic development, which became the focus of discussions.
Lee, reiterating his priority, asked how the department selects utilities.
It sometimes picks small towns for loans, he said, but they don’t always accept because they would have to increase customer rates.
This year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted Tennessee an additional $13 million, Salyers said, but he needed the additional state money to take advantage of the federal funds.
Tennessee needs $15.6 billion for aging sewer and drinking water systems through 2040, according to a state report released in December.
Typically, TDEC makes 20 to 30 low- or no-interest loans from the State Revolving Fund each year.
“I think there is some real opportunity there for us to advance your vision," Salyers told Lee.

Uganda says it is about to obtain funding from the French Development Agency (AFD) for drinking water and sanitation projects.
It’s official.
He said the money is intended to finance several drinking water and sanitation projects in Uganda.
“This funding will ensure the equitable provision of adequate drinking water and improved sanitation services on an acceptable and sustainable basis,” says Ofwono Opondo.
In concrete terms, this involves upgrading several water and sanitation infrastructures in Mbarara, Insingiro and Massaka.
An additional loan Ofwono Opondo says that an additional loan of 640 billion shillings (150 million euros) has been approved in Entebbe by the firm’s board.
The aim is to support Phase II of the Kampala Water and Sanitation Project.
Sanitation around Lake Victoria The other component of this new loan is to support the Lake Victoria II Water Supply and Sanitation Project.
“Adequate storage facilities will be put in place, in addition to new or refurbished distribution systems, to extend water coverage in the large city of Kampala,” said the AfDB.
In addition, the project provides for the supply of equipment (tractors in particular) for an improved solid waste management system, the construction of new drainage systems to target high-risk areas.

The AfDB bank has approved a €117 million loan to finance investment into making drinking water available in Morocco.
The project will target 2.5 million people in Guercif in the northeast, Zagora in the east, Al Hoceima in the north, Tangier, and Beni Mellal in central Morocco.
The program, which plans to ensure sustainable access to drinking water, meets two of the bank’s five highest priorities: “Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa” and “Industrialize Africa.” For Leila Farah Mokaddem, the bank’s Morocco country manager, the project “will contribute to further improving the quality of life of millions of Moroccans.” “Taken together with our investments in education, agriculture and energy, it will facilitate the emergence of new poles of development,” Mokaddem added.
The project is also aligned with the priorities set in the 2016-2020 investment plan of Morocco’s National Electricity and Drinking Water Agency (ONEE).
In June, the head of ONEE in the Fez region, Mohammed Berkia, said that office is adopting projects to improve the potable water supply in Al Hoceima through 2035.
Berkia said the projects would cost an estimated MAD 714 million.
The government has budgeted MAD 900 million for the project, which will launch by the end of the year.
Berkia’s statements came three weeks after King Mohammed VI instructed the government to build river and hill dams to help alleviate water scarcity in rural Morocco.
The monarch called on the commission to establish desalination plants and to ensure sustainable water in agricultural fields.
In March 15, El Othmani announced that the government would introduce a national water plan through 2050 to solve water shortages in Morocco.

The loan will fund ion exchange and carbon filtration systems on four public drinking water wells with PFAS contamination under current environmental health advisory levels.
Warrington supervisors unanimously approved a $5.3 million PennVest loan funding filter installations on four public drinking water wells contaminated with perfluorinated compounds.
Effectively a drawdown loan, the township’s water and sewer department will install ion exchange and granular activated carbon filtration systems at the public wells currently testing under a 70 parts per trillion health advisory level for PFAS contamination set by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2016.
The township is currently purchasing all of its drinking water, approximately 1.7 million gallons per day, from North Wales Water Authority, which provides water with no detectable levels of PFAS.
Warrington, Warminster and Horsham have been dealing with drinking water contamination linked to the use of firefighting foams by the U.S. military at nearby former and active bases.
While the township will have to foot the bill for these filtration systems for the foreseeable future, township Director of Water and Sewer Christian Jones also received approval from supervisors Tuesday to apply for a state Department of Community and Economic Development grant that could fund about half the total PennVest loan.
Jones said the township is applying for the total $5.13 million dollars, but said during his presentation that the awarded amount would likely be closer to $3 million.
While the township is only two years into a 10-year purchase agreement with North Wales, adding the filtration systems could allow the township to reduce its daily water needs in the future.
Before the PFAS contamination issues, supervisor Vice Chairmain Fred Gaines said the township had purchased an estimated 700,000 gallons of water per day from North Wales.
Gaines added that, while the township will likely always have some reliance on North Wales, the PennVest loan and DCED grant were good investments for Warrington’s water system.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Sri Lanka on Friday signed a $210 million second tranche loan agreement for the Mahaweli Water Security Investment Program to assist Sri Lanka complete its ongoing drive to deliver surplus water from the Mahaweli river basin to its dry zone, where scarce supplies undermine agricultural output and household incomes.
“Completion of the Mahaweli Development Program is a key priority of the government and this will maximize the productivity of the Mahaweli River Basin water resources by transferring available water to the northern dry zone of Sri Lanka for irrigation, drinking and commercial purposes,” said ADB Country Director, Sri Lanka Resident Mission, Sri Widowati.
“This availability of water will contribute to accelerating local and national economic growth”.
Widowati signed the loan agreement on behalf of ADB while Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance and Mass Media, Dr. R.H.S.
Samarathunga signed for the Government of Sri Lanka.
The dry zone is home to nearly a third of the country’s population, with 70% of rural dwellers dependent on agriculture for their livelihood.
However, the zone receives less than 1,500 millimeters of rain per year, and droughts are common, which severely affects agricultural output.
As a result, average household incomes are around 10% lower than other parts of the country, and this situation is expected to worsen as the population grows and rainfall in the region diminishes further due to climate change.
ADB’s Multitranche Financing Facility (MFF) – totaling $453 million – will finance more than 250 kilometers of new and upgraded canals, reservoirs, and other irrigation infrastructure, in addition to conducting studies on improving water management and delivery systems.
The first tranche loan of $150 million was made in 2015, and this is the second tranche of the MFF, which will finance the construction of the Kalu Ganga-Moragahakanda Transfer Canal, a part of the Upper Elahera Canal, two new reservoirs namely Mahakithula and Mahakirula, and the inlet tunnel of the Mahakirula Reservior.

LDH awarded a low-interest subsidized loan worth $8 million to the Baton Rouge Water Company.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health’s Office of Public Health, the loan was made "through the State’s Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund."
The loan was closed on Thursday, April 12 and it will allow the Baton Rouge Water Company to not have to pay back up to $500,000 of the loan.
LDH said the $8 million loan will allow for the installation of "secondary chlorine containment units at 60 sites plus one additional portable unit and a dry chlorine scrubber at a large chlorine holding facility."
If the project is successful, the safety level should be raised around the treatment of water within the Baton Rouge Water System.
According to Dr. Parham Jaberi, assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health, "Access to safe drinking water is critical to all Louisiana residents.
The Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund helps water systems fund improvement projects, bringing safe and clean drinking water to their customers.”

Share: BATON ROUGE- The Louisiana Department of Health has awarded an $8 million loan to the Baton Rouge Water Company.
The loan was awarded through the state’s drinking water revolving loan fund.
The low-interest subsidized loan will help improve the Baton Rouge water system, according to a release.
The loan also allows the company not to have to pay back up to $500,000 of the loan for this project.
“Access to safe drinking water is critical to all Louisiana residents.
The Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund helps water systems fund improvement projects, bringing safe and clean drinking water to their customers,” said Dr. Parham Jaberi, assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health.
According to the release, the loan will fund a project to install secondary chlorine containment units at 60 sites plus one additional portable unit and a dry chlorine scrubber at a large chlorine holding facility.
The goal of this project is to maintain a high level of treatment and customer service while significantly raising the level of safety surrounding the treatment of water throughout the system, according to the release.
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WaterHealth India Pvt.
Ltd. will install about 900 decentralized plants across the country to purify water on site.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the US government’s development finance institution, will fund a project to distribute clean water to millions of Indians at an affordable price.
80 crores) loan to a project that will expand access to affordable clean drinking water to millions of low and middle-income people in India, said a statement issued by the US Embassy in India.
The loan will be provided to WaterHealth India Pvt.
Ltd., a subsidiary of WaterHealth International, Inc. of Irvine, California, to enhance the clean water distribution facilities in India.
The water purified from the plants will be distributed to the public at a price that is three to four times lower than bottled water alternatives currently available in the marketplace.
An estimated 63 million Indians don’t have access to clean drinking water.
“WaterHealth International has been committed to improving access to safe and affordable drinking water for underserved consumers for over a decade.
In addition to expanding the availability of safe water, the project is projected to create more than 1,300 jobs in India and introduce advanced technologies and business models for providing potable water.

The US government development fund arm OPIC has committed $12.5 million loan for a project to deliver affordable clean drinking water to low and middle-income groups in India.
The loan will go to the Indian subsidiary of California-based WaterHealth International Inc — WaterHealth India Pvt Ltd — to install 900 decentralised plants to purify water on site and sell it at price three to four times lower than bottled water alternatives currently available in the market.
The $12.5 million (₹80 crore) loan from the Overseas Private Investment Arm (OPIC) will go to a project that will expand access to affordable clean drinking water to millions of low and middle-income people in India, OPIC said in a statement.
The clean water vending machines are to be installed at places like railway stations, bus stations, shopping malls, public and private institutions or any high footfall location where consumers are able to purchase purified water ranging in amounts from 300 ml to 5 litres.
Most consumers carry their own bottles and WaterHealth refills them but consumers may also purchase reusable bottles.
“This project offers an innovative approach to making safe water more available and affordable and illustrates how businesses can develop new solutions to long standing global challenges,” said Ray W Washburne, President and CEO, OPIC.
Health hazards Citing limited access to safe drinking water a major health and economic challenge in most parts of the world, OPIC said India alone is estimated to have 16.3 crore people who do not have access to safe water, a major cause of diarrhoeal illnesses that results in 500 deaths of children under the age of five each day.
In addition to this massive health cost, insufficient affordable water supplies pose a significant economic and overall quality of life cost, particularly for women, whose time spent gathering water often takes away from time spent on other household tasks or with family or earning income outside the home, it said.
“Built around the latest quality and operational monitoring technologies, this platform allows anyone the ability to sustainably and affordably provide safe drinking water to consumers in urban and rural areas and in weeks instead of years,” said Sanjay Bhatnagar, CEO of WaterHealth International.
OPIC’s loan to WaterHealth was committed under OPIC’s new 2X Global Women’s Initiative to mobilise $1 billion to invest in women and unlock the economic opportunity they represent.

New Delhi, Mar 26 The US government development fund arm OPIC has committed USD 12.5 million loan for a project to deliver affordable clean drinking water to low and middle-income groups in India.
The loan will go to the Indian subsidiary of California based WaterHealth International Inc — WaterHealth India Pvt Ltd — to install 900 decentralised plants to purify water on site and sell it at price three to four times lower than bottled water alternatives currently available in the market.
The USD 12.5 million (Rs 80 crore) loan from the Overseas Private Investment Arm (OPIC) will go to a project that will expand access to affordable clean drinking water to millions of low and middle-income people in India, OPIC said in a statement.
The clean water vending machines are to be installed at places like railway stations, bus stations, shopping malls, public and private institutions or any high footfall location where consumers are able to purchase purified water ranging in amounts from 300 ml to 5 litres.
Most consumers carry their own bottles and WaterHealth refills them but consumers may also purchase reusable bottles.
"This project offers an innovative approach to making safe water more available and affordable and illustrates how businesses can develop new solutions to long standing global challenges," said Ray W Washburne, OPIC President and CEO.
"By increasing access to clean water, the project will improve the health and quality of life for millions of Indians, particularly women who typically have the primary responsibility for obtaining and managing the household water supply."
"Built around the latest quality and operational monitoring technologies, this platform allows anyone the ability to sustainably and affordably provide safe drinking water to consumers in urban and rural areas and in weeks instead of years," said Sanjay Bhatnagar, CEO of WaterHealth International.
OPIC’s loan to WaterHealth was committed under OPIC’s new 2X Global Women’s Initiative to mobilise USD 1 billion to invest in women and unlock the economic opportunity they represent.
In addition to expanding the availability of safe water, the project is projected to create more than 1,300 jobs in India and introduce advanced technologies and business models for providing potable water.