American Water (AWK) to Invest $10M, Upgrade Peoria Water System


American Water Works


AWK

announced that its unit llinois American Water is going to invest $10 million to ensure high-quality potable water services in Peoria Water System’s distribution area. The investment will be directed to replace 23,000 feet of old water mains across the Peoria area, and construct a 150,000 gallon elevated storage tank at Lake Camelot and a booster system.

Timely repair and maintenance of aging pipelines, along with expansion of the existing water infrastructure are quite essential to meet the rising demand for potable water. Increase in water flow in the systems assists the fire fighters in case of an emergency.

llinois American Water has been investing on a regular basis to upgrade its existing water and wastewater infrastructure, as well as expand operations through strategic acquisitions.

Investments in Water Space

Potable water supply on a 24×7 basis is essential for maintaining hygiene and meeting daily chores. Millions of miles of pipelines, storage tanks, pumps, desalination plants, and water refineries work in tandem to deliver clean, as well as potable water for meeting daily requirements. However, aging of water and wastewater infrastructure, and water main failures are the biggest concerns for water utilities.

Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, nearly 300,000 line breaks occur every year in the United States due to aging of the existing water infrastructure. The pipeline breakage results in the wastage of millions of gallons of potable water each day and additional loss for water utility operators.

The only solution to the above problem is to update and replace the aging water infrastructure but a huge amount of investment is required to do the same. Per the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association, an estimated $750 billion investment is necessary to maintain and expand the drinking water and wastewater service to meet demand over the next 20 years. American Water continues to make investments in its infrastructure to upgrade, enhance and maintain the same. The company has plans to invest $10.4 billion in the 2021-2025 time period and $22-$25 billion in the next decade.


Essential Utilities


WTRG

is also making regular investments to upgrade the existing water and wastewater systems. Its long-term plan is to invest nearly $3 billion through 2023 to rehabilitate and strengthen water, as well as natural gas pipeline systems. Another water utility,

Global Water Resources


GWRS

is making acquisitions and the necessary investments to expand as well as strengthen operations, along with upgrade the acquired assets for providing efficient services to customers.

Price Performance

Shares of American Water have outperformed the

industry

in the past year.

Zacks Rank and Key Pick

American Water currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the same industry is

California Water Service Group


CWT

, currently having a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here


.

California Water Service currently has a dividend yield of 1.7%, which is better than the industry average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 and 2022 earnings per share of California Water Service has moved up 3.5% and 6.8%, respectively, in the past 60 days.

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