There is a ticking time bomb in every town and city across Canada and community leaders are aware of the problem. Our aging infrastructure can crumble almost instantly and there is little that can be done to prevent water line breaks and sewer breaks. Water lines and sewer lines are not glamorous like new arenas or theatres or new parks. As citizens of our communities, we never worry about those hidden pipes until we are given a boil-water notice or told we can’t flush our toilets.
It has happened to the people of Calgary twice in the past two years. Residents in Fort Frances have been inconvenienced when the water pipe failed on Crowe Ave. and businesses were shuttered when the waterline on Scott Street failed in the 200 block.
Communities bank on water lines and sewer lines lasting over 100 years, but when they reach that age, spending millions of dollars by councils for replacement water and sewer lines are frequently deferred.
I’ll be the first to commend the Fort council for checking the sewer and water lines with cameras and identifying the worst and doing the engineering to replace the most derelict lines, but when it now costs almost $1 million to totally rehab a single block, more senior government funds are required. Communities regardless of size cannot afford to replace sewer and water lines on their own dollar.
Calgary is now leading the way in understanding how some underground problems are created. In winter, as ice builds up on roadways, we are pleased when the sand and salt trucks hit the streets and help reduce those ice buildups. We don’t even think of what happens to all that salt as winter turns to spring.
Following the 2024 collapse of the major water line in Calgary, the city learned that a major culprit was sodium chloride that had saturated the soil and contributed to the water line blowout. The Bearpaw South Feeder Main was made of a combination of concreate and steel-wrapped high-tensile wire. Examining the blowout, researchers discovered that common table salt had caused hydrogen embrittlement and stress corrosion in the wires, allowing the water line to fail.
We are discovering similar problems on steel highway bridges and even in the salinity of freshwater lakes that receive the run-offs from our streets in the spring. The salt that we use to reduce accidents on our streets and highways does have longer term side effects.
There are no easy answers but being aware that water systems may have shorter lifespans, councils must look to replacing infrastructure earlier. Both provincial and federal governments must expand programs so municipalities can make their systems safer.
From the Publisher Pen
Jim Cumming Former Publisher Fort Frances Times
