Every year during the third week of May – National Infrastructure Week – a little extra attention gets paid to the state of America’s infrastructure. This includes everything from airports, bridges and roads to drinking water, wastewater and the electric grid.

The conversation tends to focus on government policy solutions and federal budgetary needs. What is almost always left out is what is needed to strengthen another critical part of our infrastructure that impacts every American homeowner, every day – their own home’s infrastructure.

The median age of a home in the United States is about 40 years, which often means that the pipes and other systems that serve that home are also that old. For utility operators this is notable. As an example, a study in the Journal of American Water Works Association found that failures in water pipes occur most often in homes between the age of 30 and 60 years old. That means that a majority of the homes in the U.S. fall right into the unfortunate sweet spot of being ripe for a pipe failure. And with many even older homes being served by lead service lines, homeowners have an extra concern when it comes to the pipes that bring the fresh water to their taps.

The reality is that many homes in America have infrastructure living on borrowed time and a pipe and other system failure is a real possibility. Over the past five years alone, HomeServe has repaired or replaced over 227,000 exterior water lines and replaced over 13 miles worth of residential water service lines that were made from dangerous lead.

Education is crucial as many homeowners are unaware that when a pipe fails on their property, they are responsible for making the repair and it isn’t usually covered by their insurance. One of HomeServe’s core missions is to work its 1,200 plus utility and municipal partners to educate homeowners about aging infrastructure and to offer a financial planning tool to them that will ensure they don’t face hardship when an expensive home emergency happens.

Survey data shows that 41% of homeowners have $500 or less – or nothing at all – set aside for a home repair emergency. With pipe repair costs possibly stretching into the thousands of dollars, a repair service plan is a smart tool for many homeowners. Plans, like those offered by HomeServe, protect a homeowner from having to pay any money out-of-pocket at the time of the repair and ensure a great contractor is there right away to complete the job. At the end of the day, a homeowner wants to know that a repair is getting completed quickly and professionally and that they are not getting ripped off.

This Infrastructure Week, let’s not just think about the community infrastructure that keeps our nation moving forward, but also about the infrastructure in our own homes that we rely on every day. Municipal and utility leaders interested in learning more about the benefits of repair service plans for residential infrastructure, visit https://watersolutions.homeserve.com/infrastructure-week-2023/.

About HomeServe

HomeServe USA Corp. (HomeServe) is a customer-focused company that enables utilities and municipalities to educate, protect and advocate for their customers who are faced with home repair emergencies. Serving nearly 5 million customers across the US and Canada and working through over 1,200 leading municipal and utility partners, HomeServe protects homeowners against the expense and inconvenience of plumbing, electrical, HVAC and other home repairs.

Through its network of skilled locally based technicians, HomeServe makes a repair or install in a customer’s home every 34 seconds. HomeServe is also a leading provider of residential energy efficiency solutions. Over the past twelve months, HomeServe has installed almost $100 million dollars’ worth of residential HVAC efficiency upgrades.

HomeServe has an exceptional customer satisfaction rating and its Service Line Warranty Program is endorsed by the National League of Cities. For more information about HomeServe, a certified Great Place to Work^® and Stevie^® Awards for Sales and Service winner, please go to www.homeserve.com. Connect with HomeServe on Facebook and Twitter @HomeServeUSA and on LinkedIn @HomeServe-USA. For news and information follow on Twitter @HomeServeUSNews.

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