For centuries, people in the Neponset River Watershed have used pipes to convey wastewater throughout the watershed. Unfortunately, these pipes don't last forever. When they fail, they damage the surrounding environment.

Damaged sewer pipes, for example, leak untreated sewage into the ground, affecting groundwater supplies and nearby waterways, not to mention public health, the aesthetics of local communities, and the well-being of local residents.

Not only do damaged sewer pipes leak pollutants, but they also absorb clean groundwater from the surrounding soil. After the groundwater seeps into the cracked pipes, it joins the flow of sewage that doesn't escape into the ground, to flow out of the Neponset River Watershed to be treated elsewhere and released. For example, the wastewater + groundwater may be piped out to Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant in Boston Harbor, treated, and released into the Harbor. The Neponset River Watershed loses a great deal of clean water in this way, exacerbating the watershed's low water conditions -- evident in streams, the river, wetlands, groundwater and wells, damaging aquatic ecosystems, and diminishing biodiversity around the watershed.

This infrastructure problem is called "I/ I", or "Inflow and Infiltration."

Communities throughout the USA are dealing with this issue especially as their infrastructure ages and their population increases, accompanying a rising demand for clean water and increasing production of waste.