Connecticut State Department of Public Health

Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program

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The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program provides long-term below market rate loans to community and non-profit, non-community public water systems (PWSs) to finance infrastructure improvement projects. Examples include storage tanks, treatment works, and water mains. Loans have interest rates at approximately half the market rate and repayment terms can be up to 20 years. The program supports and recognizes strong infrastructure sustainability programs that emphasize prevention as a tool for ensuring long term safe and affordable drinking water to Connecticut’s residents. The program also places an emphasis on providing loans to small water systems and communities most in need. PWSs which serve fewer than 10,000 persons are strongly encouraged to apply. 

Call for Projects

The DWSRF program has issued its Call for Projects for State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2025All eligible water systems with ready-to-proceed infrastructure projects are encouraged to apply. Further details on the program, loan conditions, eligibility, and deadlines can be found in the documents linked below.

Explanation of Priority Ranking System

For SFY 2025, the DWSRF program has introduced a new system for priority ranking projects. The Disadvantaged Community Index (DCI) is a wholistic approach to identifying communities in need. The public health risk tier system ensures that projects addressing acute and chronic public health risks are prioritized. The upcoming webinars (see below) will provide further explanation. DCI scores can be found using the GIS tool provided below.

Eligibility Application and Instructions

Interested public water systems must fill out an eligibility application for each new project. A project’s eligibility for funding, its priority ranking, and its readiness to proceed is determined based on the information submitted with this application. The application must be completed in its entirety for a project to be considered for DWSRF loans. Additional instructions for the application can be found in the document below. Projects which have been submitted in previous years, but have not yet executed a loan agreement with the DWSRF program, must complete a rollover application to be considered for funding. These applications have changed from previous years.

Webinars

The DPH hosted two webinars on the DCI system which were recorded and posted on the DPH YouTube channel. The webinar held on March 12th was tailored towards large water systems and the webinar held on March 13th towards small water systems. Links to the recorded webinars and the accompanying presentations are available below:

Call for Questions

The DPH introduced a formal Call for Questions process. Questions were accepted via email from March 8, 2024, through March 27, 2024. The submitted questions and answers for the First Call for Questions are provided below.

A Second Call for Questions will be held from April 2, 2024, through April 12, 2024. The second round of questions will be published on April 15, 2024 and the responses will be posted on April 19, 2024. In addition, DPH will be holding Virtual Office Hours on April 22, 2024 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm to provide a final opportunity for any additional questions. We highly encourage all interested applicants to attend this event. To register for the Virtual Office Hours please click here.

SFY 2024 Intended Use Plan – Now Final

The Drinking Water Section has finalized the State Fiscal Year 2024 Intended Use Plan (IUP). To view the IUP documents please click on Call for Projects, Review and Ranking of Projects and scroll down to the section titled “Intended Use Plan and Project Priority List”.  

Frequently-Used Forms

To assist PWS and consultants in preparing submissions to the DPH, we are providing direct links to our most commonly used applications, forms and checklists below.

Electronic Submittal of Documents

The DWSRF Program is transitioning to the electronic submittal of all forms and documents, with the use of digital signatures within Adobe-formatted documents. General instructions for setting up your digital signature are below.

Other Information

The DWSRF program was authorized by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and is overseen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  For more information on the national program, please visit these EPA websites.

If you have any questions, please contact us at dph.ctdwsrf@ct.gov