HARRISBURG -- A statewide task force whose job is to find the money to improve aging and deteriorating water and sewer lines around Pennsylvania is coming to Pittsburgh tomorrow to discuss the problem and ask residents for their ideas on solutions.

The task -- both in terms of finances and construction -- is staggering, said Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection and chairwoman of Gov. Ed Rendell's Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force.

"This issue impacts every community, every business and every citizen of the state, and that's why their input is essential," she said.

According to a federal survey, she said, Pennsylvania may have to spend up to $11 billion to repair or replace miles of aging or cracked water lines and more than $7 billion to replace sewer lines. Many of the lines are 100 years old or older.

And those cost estimates, as high as they sound, may actually be on the low end, said Bruce Hottle, a water official in Somerset County and a member of the Pennsylvania Utility Contractors Association.

He said the figures mentioned by Ms. McGinty are from 2004, and because of increases in labor and material costs, the figure for repairing water and sewage lines around the state is now more like $30 billion.

"Better water and sewer lines are needed to bring in economic development," he told the 30-member Infrastructure Task Force recently. "The needs of Pennsylvania are great."

Mr. Rendell and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are trying to make rebuilding infrastructure -- including roads, bridges, airports, railroads and ports -- a national priority. Mr. Rendell recently joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in promoting a national effort and the chamber is spending millions to push its "Let's Rebuild America" campaign.

Paul Diskin, a state Public Utility Commission official, said that when water mains were installed underground 100 years ago, the cost was $1 per foot. That has now skyrocketed to anywhere from $60 to $100 per foot.

The task force is on a tight timetable. Its goal is to recommend, by October, methods for financing the needed improvements. One method could be to impose surcharges on water and sewage bills.

Funding from the state and federal governments is another likely possibility. Mr. Rendell may include some of the suggested financing in the 2009-10 state budget proposal he will unveil next February.

Task force members, which include state legislators, know that imposing surcharges on water and sewer bills would be politically risky, but there are also serious risks in doing nothing. Homeowners don't want to pay higher bills, but if they turn on the taps and nothing comes out -- or if they flush the toilet and nothing happens -- they'll probably be even more upset.

One legislator who's on the panel is Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park. He is urging people to attend tomorrow's hearing, which will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Connan Room at Carnegie Mellon University's University Center.

"It is essential that the state take steps to ensure our drinking water and wastewater treatment systems are reliable and up-to-date," Mr. Ferlo said. "We need to hear what concerns and issues Pennsylvanians have and take them into consideration when the task force makes recommendations to the governor."

Another member of the task force is John Schombert of the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Project in Allegheny County. Municipalities in the county are facing more than $1 billion in sewer repairs alone under state and federal consent decrees aimed at stopping the release of raw sewage into area rivers.

Tomorrow's hearing in Pittsburgh is one of several the task force will hold around the state, all of them this month. On Wednesday from 1 to 3 p.m., the panel will be in Oil City, at the Clarion University's Venango Campus, and on Thursday from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. it will be in Dubois at the Clarion Hotel Dubois.

Mr. Rendell recently went to Washington, D.C., to make a pitch for greater federal involvement in maintaining and replacing water and sewer lines.

"If we want to remain economically and environmentally sustainable, we need effective national leadership to address unresolved infrastructure needs," he said.

Without reliable water and sewer lines, as well as other infrastructure such as better roads, bridges and mass transit, "Our economy and traffic will stop dead in their tracks," he said. "We will have a much tougher job competing in the world markets against the likes of China, India and the European Union."