E. coli contamination highlights challenges in updating Baltimore’s aging water system

Baltimore officials say that billions in federal money to upgrade water services nationwide could help the city replace the network of pipes and valves that feed residents’ faucets, an aging system that may be implicated in the E. coli contamination of last week. But nationwide demand, and the city’s vast infrastructure challenges, means whatever funding Baltimore receives from the federal infrastructure program will likely cover only a fraction of its needs, forcing the city to triage high priority projects and residents to bear much of the cost through their water bills.