Article: Blue is the New Green "It's nice to imagine that water flows magically from a pristine reservoir or spring to your home faucet, but that's simply not the case. As we have seen, it is disinfected and pumped along through a sprawling network of water mains and pipes. The U.S. water network, much of it built in the 1950s and '60s, will require some $277 billion worth of construction, upgrades, and replacement in the next 20 years, according to EPA estimates." Read More.