Southern Illinois has set its sights on a $20 million project to provide safe drinking water in rural parts of five counties. Residents in Alexander, Pulaski, Union, Johnson and Massac counties will ultimately benefit.

In this day of technological advancements, it is hard to believe there are a million Americans without clean drinking water, many in rural areas.

Some households in Southern Illinois either truck in drinking water from community wells or drink rainwater from cisterns. Some pay high prices for water, both the drinking and non-drinking varieties. About 1,600 homes in the service area aren't connected to a municipal water system, and 80 percent of residents have indicated they would sign onto this system.

Funding has been obtained for the first phase, which will provide water for Alexander and Pulaski counties. Of that, $3.2 million is in grants, $3 million in loans and $1.6 million will come from the Illinois Department of Community Affairs.

It is a massive project that will provide long-awaited clean drinking water in rural Southern Illinois.