Workers at the Madison Water Utility climb into the muck more than 200 times a year trying to wrestle broken water mains together.

Each time one of the mains breaks, bacteria and other pollutants get another chance to sneak into the drinking water.

But broken water mains aren't the only problems facing Madison's aging water infrastructure.

According to a 2005 report by water utility consultants Black & Veatch Corp. and Strand Associates of Madison, the water utility is not investing enough in the pipes, pumps and other equipment that makes the water system work.

The report also found:

*Older well houses without separate chemical rooms for the handling of chlorine and fluoride, a violation of state safety codes. The lack of proper facilities for handling the chemicals can pose dangers to water utility employees, the report stated.

*Many problems with water storage facilities, ranging from cracks and bulges in walls to structural problems related to settling.

*On average, workers with the Madison Water Utility have to repair more than 200 water main breaks a year. But the actual number of breaks has been as high as 252 in 2000. Last year, there were 238 breaks.

A health issue Decaying equipment can have a direct impact on water quality.

In a 2003 study of drinking water quality in 19 U.S. cities, the Natural Resources Defense Council found deteriorating plumbing to be a major problem in most of the cities studied, including Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C.

The study concluded that across the country "our water supply infrastructure is breaking down at alarming rates."

And the report pointed out a health issue related to aging systems with which the Madison Water Utility is very familiar.

The study found an increase in the frequency of periodic spikes in water contamination in many of those cities. Those spikes indicate that aging equipment may be inadequate to handle today's growing contaminant loads.

Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have all had to issue boil alerts as a result of spikes in turbidity or discoloration of drinking water due to the presence of contaminants.

In Madison, water utility officials have had to cope with numerous spikes in contaminants, including minerals such as manganese.

The utility has blamed spikes in manganese readings at many homes on water main flushing or on other incidents such as water main breaks, which caused the contaminants that collect in older pipes to break loose.

And the presence of lead in some older pipes - at levels beyond federal standards - prompted the utility to embark on an ambitious and expensive project to replace those pipes.

The program, prompted by federal government regulations that required the city to meet federal lead standards, started in 2000 and is expected to be completed in 2011.

Such aggressive action with other deteriorating parts of the system will be necessary to prevent a decline in water quality, according to the NRDC.

"Unless steps are taken now," the report stated, "tap water will get worse."

Difficult future

Despite aging equipment, the Madison Water Utility is spending only about $200,000 a year on reinvestment in facilities such as wells and reservoirs, according to the consultants' report.

That expenditure should be closer to $2.5 million, according to the report.

Similarly, the utility is falling behind in efforts to replace aging water pipes, the report stated.

While the utility budgets about $2.8 million per year for pipeline replacement, that amount should be closer to $6.5 million, the consultants found.

If it continues, that lack of investment will make for a difficult future, according to Jerry Edwards, a Black & Veatch engineer who did the Madison study.

Unless more money is invested in replacement and repair, future generations are going to be left with an unreliable water system that will be overwhelmingly expensive to fix, Edwards warned.

"It's going to become difficult," Edwards said. "Once you let it deteriorate to a certain point, it becomes difficult to catch up."

A good deal

But investing more money in updating the water system will be a challenge. Madison's water utility is entirely supported by money that comes from rate payers - homeowners, businesses and public institutions such as UW-Madison.

For years, rate payers in Madison have gotten a deal.

Madison Water Utility customers pay rates that are, on average, about 65 percent of rates charged by other state water utilities. The average Madison Water Utility customer pays $36.50 per quarter.

And, according to the Public Service Commission, the city is ranked 37 out of 584 municipal water utilities in Wisconsin for the lowest rates (1 representing the lowest rates in the state and 584 the highest).

But if the utility is to adequately address the physical condition of its infrastructure, such low water bills are likely to become a thing of the past.

Rate increases considerably higher than the last increase of about 7 percent are inevitable, according to utility officials.

And those substantial rate increases are likely to cause what's known in the water utility business as "rate shock" among customers accustomed to cheap water. Also troublesome is the possibility that the utility's ability to sell bonds - which it must do to pay for capital expenses - may be impaired if the Public Service Commission doesn't approve the necessary increases in rates.

David Denig-Chakroff, general manager of the Madison Water Utility, said utilities across the country are facing similar tough decisions on when to replace aging water systems.

The Madison Water Utility, Denig-Chakroff said, has found it more cost effective to invest in maintaining its older equipment, much of which he said still is reliable. But he said the utility is also preparing a master plan that will outline a gradual increase in spending to modernize the water system.

Without a doubt, he added, rate increases will be necessary. He said it is too soon to know about specific increases but they are likely to be "higher and more frequent."

In a study of 20 cities the American Water Works Association estimated that by 2030the average utility will have to spend about 3 times as much on worn-out pipe replacement as it does today.

In smaller water systems, such as Madison's, homeowners are likely to have to pay anywhere from $1,100 to $6,900 per household more in higher water rates over 30 years to cover the increasing costs, according to the American Water Works Association report.

Towels tell story

Carol McDonald just wants clean, white towels.

A fastidious housekeeper, the 77-year-old McDonald seemed embarrassed to display her old towels on the kitchen table at her East Side home.

A stack of new towels appeared bright white while the towels she had washed were gray.

Clothing had suffered the same fate, she said, coming out of the washer stained rusty and brown.

"I'm just so discouraged with the water," McDonald said. "If I wanted tan underclothes, I'd buy them that way."

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said it would be wrong to downplay such concerns.

But he also supported the utility in its decision to maintain existing equipment instead of spending money on replacement. He said that the utility's current financial situation is sound and he believes that, because of low water rates, there is opportunity for the utility to increase rates and finance improvements in coming years.

Even so, Cieslewicz, to whom utility administrators ultimately answer and who appoints members to the Board of Water Commissioners, said he will be paying close attention to the utility's planning regarding replacement of aging equipment.

"I don't think we're near a crisis," Cieslewicz said. "But clearly we need a plan going into the future."

Al Warburton, director of legislative affairs for the AWWA and project manager for the organization's recent studies of infrastructure issues, said investment decisions being faced by utilities such as Madison's are crucial for one overriding reason. They have to do with the legacy we leave.

"We inherited these systems," Warburton said. "The question is, what are we going to pass on to the next generation?"

With hundreds of Madison residents complaining about brown tap water, a four-day State Journal series takes a look at what's in Madison's water and what residents can do about it. To view other stories in this series, visit http://www.madison.com/wsj/spe/water/