The need to meet new environmental standards, the growing demand for water and the need to replace obsolete infrastructure are causing U.S. water utilities to embark on thousands of capital improvement projects. These projects are tracked in the McIlvaine North American Public Water Plants and People. Growing demand is why Bay City, Michigan is planning a $60 million regional treatment plant. Arkansas City, Kansas is planning a new $12 million plant. Annapolis, Maryland is building a $35 million plant. Some of the expenditures are to meet new regulations. Clay Center, Kansas, which has about 4,300 residents, built a $10 million water treatment plant to clear the water of uranium that can occur naturally in underground aquifers.