This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE , Atlanta’s NPR station.

Thomasville, Georgia, has a water problem. Its treatment system is far out of date, posing serious health and environmental risks.

“We have wastewater infrastructure that is old,” said Sheryl Sealy, the assistant city manager for this city of 18,881 near the Florida border, about 45 minutes from Tallahassee. “It ’ s critical that we do the work to replace this.”

But it’s expensive to replace. The system is especially bad in underserved parts of the city, Sealy said.

In September, Thomasville applied to get some help from the federal government, and just under four months later, the city and its partners were awarded a nearly $20 million Community Change grant from the U.S. Env

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