The White House has turned to the private sector in an attempt to mend America’s creaking water infrastructure system, securing $4bn in commitments from businesses and instituting a new plan to help deal with crises such as the Flint lead poisoning disaster and the California drought.

The first White House water summit, to be held on Tuesday, will see more than 150 businesses and other organizations, including GE, commit funding to upgrade “critical infrastructure”, including dams, canals and water pipes.

Barack Obama’s administration would not commit, however, to a goal of replacing all of the estimated three to six million miles of lead piping that brings water to Americans every day. If they are not carefully treated, the pipes can leach lead, a known neurotoxin, into drinking water. This occurred in Flint, Michigan, where an estimated 8,000 children could grow up with developmental difficulties due to the water not being treated.

“There is a clear need for infrastructure investment to tackle the challenges we face, including plugging leaking pipes,” said Ali Zaidi, associate director for natural resources at the office of management and budget. “To achieve that objective we’re going to galvanize public and private sectors. The private sector is stepping up to the plate and we know there is an important role for the federal government to play as well.

“Innovation has lagged in recent decades. We waste seven billion gallons of clean and treated water every day. We need to be more efficient and ensure pipes aren’t leaking.”

A further $1bn will be spent on research and development into new water technology. There’s also a new long-term drought resilience initiative, issued by presidential memorandum, which will aim to improve planning and coordination of drought response.

A historic drought, currently affecting nearly 40 million people, mostly in California, and the Flint water crisis have helped “elevate the importance of water infrastructure”, said John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology.

“Water is a critical area of focus, in its quality and quantity,” he said. “Shifting populations and climate change are exacerbating water challenges. We face a whole array of challenges in the water domain.”

On Monday, Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan said he wanted Flint and the rest of the state to comply to a “much higher standard” of lead-level regulations than is required under federal rules. Under US Environmental Protection Agency rules, a water system must take steps to control corrosion if lead concentrations exceed 15 parts per billion in more than 10% of customer taps sampled.

Snyder, who is facing calls to quit over his alleged failure to deal with the Flint crisis, has also proposed replacing all of Flint’s lead water pipes. Such an undertaking on a national scale would require major investment, with a recent estimate putting the price at $275bn.

The EPA has instead focused on updating its lead and copper rule, as well as reminding water authorities to not downplay the amount of lead in water samples through well-established techniques that exploit loopholes in the 25-year-old law.

Gina McCarthy, administrator of the EPA, said she has asked water authorities to “step up our game” on the implementation of the lead and copper rule.

“We had to do more to be transparent,” she said on Monday. “We had to urge investments in infrastructure that were necessary and in new technologies.

“There are a wealth of lessons learned out of Flint, and we have to learn them. Unfortunately, that community had to learn those lessons the hard way. And it’s not going to happen again, at least not on my watch. So we have work to do together.”

McCarthy has also faced calls to resign over her agency’s role in the Flint crisis. But the White House has staunchly defended her, with administration spokesman Josh Earnest saying there is “a strong case to make the United States of America has never had a better administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency than Gina McCarthy”.