American Water Works AWK announced that its unit, Indiana American Water, is going to invest $24.5 million on a water main replacement project in Gary, IN. This project aims to replace five miles of water mains from the early 1900s and install nearly 11 miles of new water mains, ranging in size from 8-36 inches, over the next three years.Replacement of the aging water mains is quite essential to ensure water quality and system pressures as well as increase system resiliency. The new water mains will ensure enough water pressure for firefighters at times of emergency. The company expects increasing demand for water services in northwest Indiana in the next few years and these infrastructure upgrades will assist the company to meet the demand hike.Indiana American Water regularly invests to upgrade, maintain, and expand the existing water and wastewater infrastructure. It provides high-quality and reliable water and wastewater services to nearly 1.32 million people.Aging Water Infrastructure a ConcernThe U.S. water infrastructure, which includes more than 2.2 million miles of pipelines, is aging and needs major repair and maintenance to provide proper services to millions of Americans. Per the findings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, water main breaks occur every two minutes in the United States due to the aging of the existing water infrastructure.Pipeline breaks result in the wastage of 6 billion gallons of potable water each day and add to the loss of water utility operators. The pipeline breaks not only increase the cost of water services but also expose it to the possibility of contamination.Investment Essential for Water IndustryPer the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a $750 billion investment is necessary to maintain and expand drinking water as well as wastewater services to meet demand over the next 20 years.American Water Works has plans to invest $10.4 billion between 2021 and 2025, and $22-$25 billion in the next decade to upgrade as well as strengthen its existing water and wastewater infrastructure. In addition to American Water, other water utilities like Essential Utilities WTRG, California Water Service Group CWT, and Middlesex Water Company MSEX continue to invest in their respective water and wastewater infrastructure to provide high-quality services to customers.In addition to the water utility operators, the U.S. government has made provisions for the upgrade of the aging water and wastewater assets. The American Jobs Plan has provisions for $111 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure upgrade.Price PerformanceShares of American Water have outperformed the industry in the past 12 months.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchZacks RankThe company currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $2.4 trillion by 2028 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases. Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Recommendations from previous editions of this report have produced gains of +205%, +258% and +477%. The stocks in this report could perform even better.See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report American Water Works Company, Inc. (AWK): Free Stock Analysis Report California Water Service Group (CWT): Free Stock Analysis Report Middlesex Water Company (MSEX): Free Stock Analysis Report Essential Utilities Inc. (WTRG): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research