The vibrant economic heartbeat
of Canada’s largest city
stopped suddenly late January
when a water main broke in
Toronto’s Bay Street, flooding an electrical
transformer station and cutting
off power for hours. This could have
been economically devastating but,
fortuitously, the flooding happened on
a Sunday when Bay Street’s Masters of
the Universe were absent from their
glass towers. Had the break occurred a
day later, the resulting chaos might
have cost millions in lost salaries, not
to mention zillions in commissions
from stock market trading.
Happily, Toronto had expert crews
who were able to restore water supplies
before the next business day. A
few days later another break occurred
in West Toronto. If nothing else these
main breaks focused on the immeasurable
value of well-engineered and
well-maintained water and sewer
infrastructure. But out of sight is to be
out of mind and, in value engineering,
some accountants seem out of their
minds. A recent analysis estimates that
Toronto has the highest rate of water
mains leakage in Ontario — approximately
30 leaks annually for every 100
kilometres of water main.
Some incidents result in unscripted
humour. A crew had cut out a section
of an ancient water main which had
become heavily tuberculated and had
placed it on the sidewalk. On seeing
this pipe, a visitor asked the engineer
if the local citizens were not outraged
that their precious drinking water had
been delivered to them through such
pipelines. “Not at all,” the engineer
responded, “some assume it is a sewer
pipe!” I thought at the time this was a
clever, but hyperbolic rejoinder. Then
I checked Garry Palmateer’s quote in
my January 2005 editorial: “Many
studies show that pathogenic bacteria
introduced into a water distribution
system can survive and grow in biofilm... For example, E.coli was
found to withstand 2400 times more
chlorine when attached to a surface
than when it was a free cell… Therefore
the importance of biofilm formation
in distribution systems cannot be
underestimated.”
Infrastructure
spending in Toronto
will grow from
$240 million in 2004
to $540 million
by 2007
If only water mains’ infrastructure
had the visibility of potholes, which
are fully and painfully in view of the
public they serve. Potholes cause both
discomfort and automobile damage
and the citizenry is quick to complain
to their elected representatives. Yet
people scream if the water rates are
raised. Ironic really as Canadian water
rates are arguably among the lowest in
the world, and possibly the safest.Yet
water treatment and distribution systems
are usually ignored until
tragedies, such as the Walkerton fatalities
occur. The low bid approach is
often the decisive factor in the selection
process for engineering designs
and equipment purchases. Environmental
infrastructure has a lifespan of
many decades and human health is
completely dependent on engineering
and analytical chemistry.
Meanwhile Toronto is responding
to the general infrastructure neglect. It
is reported that water and sewer system
infrastructure spending in Toronto
will grow from $240 million in 2004
to $540 million by 2007. Plans are to
increase pipe replacement — possibly
with PVC pipe — from 22 kilometres
in 2004 to 80 kilometres in 2009.
There are plans also to remediate
water mains with cement lining,
including cathodic protection. Few of
the general public realize that stray
electrical currents from street cars, or
low voltage currents from buried electrical
infrastructure, may expedite
water mains corrosion. Just for once,
taxpayers should welcome this
increased expenditure. It will be an
investment in public health as well as
making water services more secure.
Leakage is another serious factor
which is virtually unknown to the general
public. If the scale and economics
of water main leaks were known, the
public would find it startling. But
water main leakage is a serious problem
the world over. Canada might
even be more fortunate than most
countries. Millions of litres of treated
water leak below the surface every day
— indeed, in some countries, as much
as 50% of treated water is lost to leakage.
Worse still, potable water which
was treated to high standards, often
leaks into sewer systems. Not only is
this a shocking financial waste, but by
a cruel irony, potable water — having
been expertly and expensively treated
to a high degree of safety — may find
its way back to the treatment plant.
Here it goes once again through an
expensive series of treatments to
restore its former potable standards —
a macabre form of recycling.
This is more than a waste of treated
water, for, ironically, such water penetration
often weakens the raw sewage,
making it more difficult to treat as
well as requiring treatment plants to
handle higher volumes. A financial
double whammy for taxpayers.
Yet councils, provinces and federal
institutions still select the lowest bids
in erroneous attempts to protect both
public health and the public purse
when selecting consultants, laboratories
and environmental equipment
suppliers. In this they often waste public
monies and yet, in the long term,
fail miserably to protect their constituents’
health as well as the environment
they inhabit.
The Toronto flooding could be a
warning to other cities that, while our
pipes are out of sight — and therefore
neglected in budgetary considerations
— they must not be out of mind. This
latest mains failure and flooding is a
warning that maintenance and
replacement programs are vital in protecting
health, property, and ironically,
corporate and taxpayers’ money.
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