The strength of water supply pipelines across Canada is in question after surprise water main breaks in Calgary and Montreal, with about a third of the pipes reaching the end of their expected life span, according to a recent report.
More than 30 percent of water mains—or about 1.2 million kilometres (770,00 miles) of piping—in Canada and the United States are reaching the end of their expected life span, according to the report.
While the average life expectancy for a pipe that is currently installed is 78 years, the report says, the average age of failing water mains is 53 years.
It also notes that there are about 260,000 water main breaks each year, costing about $2.6 billion in maintenance and repairs.
Smaller-sized distribution pipes (12 inches or less) represent 86 percent of all water mains in the two countries and have failure rates of 13.3 breaks/160 kilometres (100 miles) per year compared to transmission mains, which see 2.2 breaks/160 kilometres (100 miles) per year, report authors wrote.
The report said that 43.5 percent of utilities reported undertaking regular condition assessments.
The comprehensive report estimated more than 19 percent of water mains, or 727,423 kilometres (452,000 miles) are already “beyond their useful lives.” In 2018, that number was 16 percent; in 2012, it was 8 percent.
Question of Cost
One of the biggest challenges to the country’s water supply is who is footing the bill.“Municipalities ($1,328.5 billion) owned 61.7 percent of the total estimated replacement value of core public infrastructure in Canada,” the agency says. “Of that amount, more than two-thirds (68.1 percent) were in urban municipalities.”
In 2020, the most recent year data is available, public infrastructure in Canada, excluding social and affordable housing, had a replacement value of $2.1 trillion, StatCan said.
New Brunswick (14.6 percent) and British Columbia (10.9 percent) had the highest rates of transmission pipes in very poor condition, StatCan reported. The Northwest Territories (25 percent) and Quebec (10.1 percent) had the highest rates of pipes in poor conditions.
StatCan says that the estimated replacement value of potable water assets across Canada was $270.1 billion in 2020. About 16 percent of that was for pipes that were in poor, very poor, or unknown condition.
In 2022, local and regional governments reported a combined $3.6 billion in capital expenditures on waterworks infrastructure, according to StatCan data. That was about 13.6 percent of all spending on infrastructure.
In the same year, governments and public-sector organizations spent an extra $8.3 billion for water supply operations, maintenance, and other expenses, StatCan says. It notes that was up from $6.1 billion the year before.