Wastewater

Rated: Good

Collecting, treating  and discharging waste from domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural activity is key to preventing water pollution and protecting public health.  Municipalities in Canada operate over 3500 wastewater treatment systems.

The wastewater infrastructure assets in our survey included linear wastewater collection systems (i.e., sewer pipes and sanitary force mains) and non-linear assets (i.e., treatment plants, lagoon systems, pumping stations, lift stations and storage tanks).

The current state

Approximately 25% of wastewater infrastructure is in very good condition and 30-40% is in good condition. These positive results represent approximately 55-65% of wastewater assets.

That said, approximately 15% of linear wastewater assets have an unknown condition, which highlights the challenges in assessing underground assets. A large portion of linear wastewater assets are more than 50 years old.

We assessed these assets using a defined scale and their age profile.

• Sewers have an ESL of 70-100 years depending on the material.
• Vertical facilities have an ESL of 50-80 years for structural components, 25 years for mechanical and electrical components.

Wastewater by the numbers