A national television report on asbestos cement water pipes in municipalities across Canada has raised a number of questions about water safety. Asbestos is an element that, when airborne, can lead to a number of health risks, and is considered to be extremely carcinogenic. However, it was used extensively in many municipalities for underground water infrastructure.  

One of those communities with asbestos cement water pipes is Weyburn. We wanted to know what the actual concerns are surrounding the pipes and sat down with Jennifer Wilkinson, the Director of Engineering with the City of Weyburn. 

“We have a program in place where we are replacing water mains every single year, and we replace them we remove that asbestos cement piping and we obviously don’t put that back in,” Wilkinson explained when asked what the status of the pipes are in Weyburn. “We have about 59 kilometres as of 2021, and we replace about 200 meters a year, so we are eliminating it, and then any new developments that go in, they obviously go in without the asbestos cement piping.” 

Asbestos cement is also used strictly in the water mains. There is no asbestos cement piping used in service connections; those are typically copper or plastic. As well, the sewer lines are generally clay tile pipes.  

Here in Weyburn, there is no testing that is done for asbestos levels in the water, as it isn’t a requirement of Health Canada. However, there are other municipalities that do the testing on a voluntary basis and this helps to infer whether or not it is an issue, according to Wilkinson.  

In terms of the asbestos leaching into the water, it all comes down to the pressurization of the line itself. 

“If it’s carrying the water, it’s not getting into the water,” Wilkinson pointed out. “It’s more of a situation that the biggest issue with asbestos is that airborne component, so we actually have a procedure in place when we do have to deal with a water main for our contractors and for our city employees on how to handle it properly to ensure that the biggest thing is it never dries out.” 

When an asbestos cement water main breaks, there are next to no concerns about the main carrying the water to the residents of Weyburn that are downline from the main. This is because the water will end up flowing through the break in the main, and get absorbed into the water.  

The amount of asbestos that would be considered to be dangerous when in water is also part of the reason why Health Canada and other organizations don’t have any guidance on the levels of asbestos in water. According to data collected by the Environmental Protection Association in the United States, the level at which asbestos in water becomes harmful is 7 million fibres per litre of water.  

“Based on all the studies that Health Canada has done and what we have been able to find is that it would have to be such a high amount that there is really no risk to the public,” Wilkinson concluded. “Our drinking water is safe, we are following all the required regulations and all the required testing and there are no issues from asbestos for our water.”