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  3. Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience
  4. Critical Infrastructure Sectors
  5. Water and Wastewater Systems
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Water and Wastewater Systems

Protecting the systems that provide water is vitally important to the stability and health of the nation and is the mission of the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector.

Critical Infrastructure Sectors

  • Chemical Sector
  • Commercial Facilities Sector
  • Communications Sector
  • Critical Manufacturing Sector
  • Dams Sector
  • Defense Industrial Base Sector
  • Emergency Services Sector
  • Energy Sector
  • Financial Services Sector
  • Food and Agriculture Sector
  • Government Services and Facilities Sector
  • Healthcare and Public Health Sector
  • Information Technology Sector
  • Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste Sector
  • Transportation Systems Sector
  • Water and Wastewater Sector

Overview 

Safe drinking water is essential for protecting public health and supporting all human activities. Properly treated wastewater is crucial for preventing disease and safeguarding the environment. Ensuring a reliable supply of clean drinking water and effective wastewater treatment is vital to modern life and the nation’s economy. 

In the United States, there are approximately 152,000 public drinking water systems, including 50,000 community water systems, and more than 16,000 wastewater treatment systems. Over 80 percent of the U.S. population receives their potable water from these drinking water systems, and about 75 percent have their sanitary sewerage treated by these wastewater systems. 

The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector is vulnerable to various threats, including physical attacks, cyberattacks, and contamination with harmful agents. Such incidents could result in widespread illness, casualties, and service disruptions, significantly impacting public health and economic stability. Additionally, the sector is vulnerable to a wide range of natural disasters. Critical services such as firefighting and healthcare, as well as other dependent and interdependent sectors like Energy, Health Care and Public Health, and Critical Manufacturing, could experience face severe consequences from disruptions in water or wastewater services.

Both the ability to supply water and manage wastewater are considered National Critical Functions. These functions are so vital to the U.S. that their disruption, corruption, or dysfunction would have a debilitating effect on national security, economic stability, and public health and safety.

Water and Wastewater Government Coordinating Council and Sector Coordinating Council

Under the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC), coordinating councils provide a forum for interaction between governmental entities and representatives from the community of critical infrastructure owners and operators. As the Sector Risk Management Agency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chairs the Water Government Coordinating Council (WGCC), which includes federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities and their representative organizations with critical infrastructure responsibilities. The Water Sector Coordinating Council (WSCC) is a self-organized and self-governed council, comprising organizations that represent critical infrastructure owners and operators, as well as their respective trade or equivalent associations.

WGCC and WSCC Resources

2024 Roadmap to a Secure and Resilient Water and Wastewater Sector

The GCC and WSCC developed the Roadmap to a Secure and Resilient Water and Wastewater Sector to review key threats and vulnerabilities in the sector, identify gaps in sector capabilities, and formulate Priority Activity Areas and associated near-term

Sector Specific Plan

The Water and Wastewater Systems Sector-Specific Plan details how the National Infrastructure Protection Plan risk management framework is implemented within the context of the unique characteristics and risk landscape of the sector.

EPA Resources

EPA has a wide array of free, easy-to-use tools, resources, guidance, and training available on its Drinking Water and Wastewater Resilience website.

EPA Cybersecurity Resources for the Water Sector

EPA provides free cybersecurity assessment tools, training, technical assistance support and conducts cybersecurity assessments for drinking water and wastewater systems.

SDWA Section 1433 Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response Plans

EPA has tools, guidance, and training to assist community water systems in complying with America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA) Section 2013, which amended SDWA 1443 to require development of Risk and Resilience Assessments and Emergency Response

Contamination Preparedness and Response

EPA has resources available to help drinking water utilities to prepare and respond during water contamination incidents.

Emergency Preparedness and Response

EPA has a variety of all-hazards (flood, drought, wildfire) tools and guidance, as well as information on mutual aid networks to support utility preparedness and response.

Supply Chain Resilience

EPA has resources that can help water and wastewater utilities prepare for, and respond to, supply chain disruptions that could impact operations.

CISA Resources

Water and Wastewater Cybersecurity

This toolkit highlights key CISA and EPA resources for water and wastewater systems including vulnerability scanning, cybersecurity training, and cybersecurity assessments.
PUBLICATION

Cyber Risks and Resources for the Supply Water Infographic

CISA developed this infographic to highlight cyber risks and provide available resources to support the national critical function of supplying water.
Download File (PDF, 510.35 KB)
PUBLICATION

Cyber Risks and Resources for the Management of Water and Wastewater Systems Sector

CISA developed this infographic to highlight potential cyber risks to the management of wastewater and provide available resources to support proper cybersecurity and resilience.
Download File (PDF, 512.55 KB)

Sector Resources

Members of the WSCC have developed numerous resources for the sector.

American Water Works Association (AWWA) Cybersecurity Resources

AWWA provides several free cybersecurity resources including Water Sector Cybersecurity Risk Management Guidance, an Assessment Tool, and Small Systems Guidance for small and rural utilities.

AWWA Risk and Resilience Resources

AWWA has numerous standards and resources to help water systems increase their resilience.

AWWA Emergency Preparedness Resources

AWWA offers resources to enhance emergency preparedness, including information on Water and Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN) and Water Sector Resource Typing Guidance.

WaterISAC Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Water and Wastewater Utilities

The Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) developed this free resource on best practices to reduce exploitable weaknesses and attacks.

Water Environment Federation (WEF) Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) in the Water and Wastewater Systems Sector: GENERATIVE AI (GenAI)

This free fact sheet explores the steps utilities can take to help ensure that they are able to fully realize the benefits of GenAI while minimizing the risks associated with its use.

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