(Kansas City, Mo.) – The big question today is, “What would you do if you won the Powerball?” KC Water has some ideas for how it would spend $1.5 billion.
Kansas City has 2,800 miles of water main and more than 2,800 miles of sewer main beneath the streets. Some of the pipe has been in use since the late 1800’s and needs replaced.
KC Water’s goal is to replace 28 miles of main each year (a 1% replacement program). The cost to replace one mile of water main is $1.25 million. A Powerball jackpot of $1.5 billion would pay to replace roughly 1,200 miles of main – enough pipe to stretch from Kansas City, Missouri to Providence, Rhode Island.
KC Water is also working to rehabilitate 1% of Kansas City’s sewer pipe each year (approximately 28 miles). The cost is about $900,000 per mile, which means the Powerball jackpot would rehabilitate approximately 1,700 miles – almost enough pipe to stretch from Kansas City, Missouri to San Francisco, California.
The estimated $1.5 billion jackpot could also pay for about one third of the federally-mandated Overflow Control Program (OCP). The OCP is a city-wide approach to meet regulatory requirements related to reducing and preventing sewer overflows. When completed in 2035, the cost is estimated to reach $4.5 to $5 billion. It is the largest infrastructure project in Kansas City history.
For more information, please contact Brooke Givens, Media Relations Coordinator, at brooke.givens@kcmo.org or 816.513.0284.
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KC Water maintains and operates water treatment and distribution systems, stormwater management systems, and wastewater collection and treatment systems for residential and business customers in Kansas City and for wholesale customers in the Kansas City area. KC Water is primarily funded by fees charged to customers based on their use or impacts on the three utility systems.
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