19th Century Infrastructure

It would seem insane to try to make telephone calls on lines installed in the 19th Century or to drive on major roads that were built then and never improved afterwards.

But that is what a lot of cities and towns are doing when it comes to their water and sewer systems. The pipes were laid in the 19th Century and they are finally breaking down.

Problem is, though, that those 19th Century pipes were better built than their newer replacements. So if we can't build the new pipes as well as they could back in the day of President Grant, we are pretty much screwed.