PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — With some of Maine’s wastewater treatment systems using parts that date back to the Civil War, state officials welcomed $29.7 million in federal loans and grants announced this week to maintain municipal sewage systems and even build a new one — but one called those needed projects just “the tip of the iceberg.”

Maine towns estimated they need more than $1 billion for wastewater projects in the next 20 years, according to a 2012 assessment by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.