Support for Water Utilities Who Need it Most
Across the country, many small and rural communities continue to face serious challenges, from a rapidly retiring water workforce and chronic staffing shortages to a growing crisis of aging infrastructure, where pipe breaks and system failures are becoming more frequent and costly.
Thanks to funding through two separate EPA grant programs – Training and Technical Assistance for Small Systems and the Training and Technical Assistance Program for Rural, Small, and Tribal Wastewater Systems - the EFC is enabled to continue breaking down barriers by offering practical, tailored support that helps communities tackle these obstacles and build capability to make sound decisions that keep thier utility moving forward towards a financially and operationally stable future.
We are able to offer these resources at no-cost thanks to two EPA-funded grant projects:
The work of this project seeks to address the challenges facing the nation’s smallest drinking water and wastewater systems (those serving 10,000 or fewer people or wastewater systems treating 1 million gallons per day or less), with the goal of meeting technical, financial, and managerial (TMF) needs.
This program offers vital technical assistance and training to enhance the operations and management practices of rural, small, and Tribal wastewater systems. As EPA-designated Clean Water RST technical assistance providers, we collaborate with partners to help municipalities and governments secure the financing needed for crucial infrastructure improvements.
Our focus is on building the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of both centralized and decentralized wastewater treatment systems to ensure they operate effectively, safeguard water quality, and comply with regulatory standards.
Through these programs, our team of experts provides free assistance to systems across the country, including the US territories, tribes, and the Navajo Nation, to address challenges ranging from asset management and rate setting to water loss reduction and conservation, through:
- In-person and virtual trainings and focused webinars
- Direct technical assistance
- Additional resource (blogposts, podcasts, tools, and publications)
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreements to Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center. The contents of this webpage do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the Environmental Protection Agency endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document, as well as any images, video, text, or other content created by generative artificial intelligence tools, nor does any such content necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency.