In this week's water and wastewater news, a group of 500 citizens in New Mexico is looking at starting its own utility to solve water problems; and water testing near Atlanta uncovers nearly 50 schools with lead contamination.

In this week's news briefs, a wastewater treatment plant operator in Pennsylvania pleads guilty to violating the Clean Water Act; a New Mexico utility is ordered to pay a $1 million fine; a series of projects near Los Angeles will treat 5.3 billion gallons of water per year; and a Tampa Bay wastewater leak puts a hold on swimming and fishing in Rocky Creek.

See what’s going on around the country in this listing of new water and wastewater projects.

The USDA investment will help fund 85 water and wastewater projects in 39 states.

On Aug. 5, an EPA team working at a Colorado gold mine accidentally released 3 million gallons of wastewater into the nearby river. Now, that water is headed toward New Mexico.

In this week's news, sump pumps cause problems for a wastewater treatment plant, Montana lowers loan rates for infrastructure projects and a city experiments with reclaimed water.