![\"Water](\"https:\/\/www.cp24.com\/polopoly_fs\/1.6249383!\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/landscape_620\/image.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOne city planning expert says that while infrastructure emergencies are bound to arise, the break hits home the fact that upgrading crumbling infrastructure is a never-ending task that a large city needs to keep up with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt reminds me of how important consistent preventative maintenance is and keeping that state of good repair,\u201d says Professor Matti Siemiatycki, who is the Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto\u2019s School of Cities. \u201cMaintenance investments is what keeps the city going and we have so much infrastructure that’s aging, and it has to be maintained\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the city\u2019s website, the average age of Toronto\u2019s water mains is 61 years old. But nine per cent are 80-100 years old and some 15 per cent are more than 100 years old<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On average since 2016, the city experiences 1,100 water main breaks per year<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe city has been investing in maintenance and they do have plans in place, but they also have been talking about, you know, under budgetary pressure, what type of cuts would have to be made?\u201d Siemiatycki says. \u201cAnd I think what people are seeing now is we have aging infrastructure. We have a backlog of things that need to be maintained and when these type of incidents happen, the impacts are very large\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The municipality typically replaces 30-40 kilometres of water mains each year and extends the life of more than 100 kilometres of water mains each year through rehabilitation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The city says it prioritizes a number of factors when considering which water mains to replace first, including age and material, break frequency, operational performance, future growth, and coordination with other construction projects<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a comprehensive program of capital upgrades to our water mains and our sewers,\u201d Bill Shea, director of Distribution and Collection at Toronto Water, told CP24 earlier this week. \u201cThis particular water main was slotted for replacement in 2025. It’s about 140 years old\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this pipe \u201cdidn’t quite make it to 2025,\u201d Shea said, the city nonetheless spends hundreds of millions of dollars every year rehabilitating and upgrading water mains<\/p>\n\n\n\n