By a margin of 367-58, the Democrat led US House passed new legislation that would fund the upgrade and modernization of the sewage systems affecting 40 million Americans to the tune of $1.7 billion over five years.

The legislation would target combined sewer systems - older systems that collect rainwater runoff, domestic sewage and industrial wastewater in one pipe - which become overloaded during heavy rainfall and are currently responsible for the release of 850 billion gallons of untreated sewage into the environment each year.

The new bill would also go a long way in addressing sewage pollution in the Great Lakes. Earlier this year, Sierra Legal released the first ever analysis of sewage pollution in the Lakes, and found that combined sewage systems were one of the biggest reasons why 93 billion litres of raw sewage enters the lakes each year.

The fate of the spending, however, will likely fall to the president. Bush has already said that he opposes the bill, as he is committed to funding the destruction of water system infrastructure in Iraq to the tune of $275 million per day.

You'd think they could take a week off from Iraq and fund some basic water improvements on the home front.