Over a quarter of Cambridge’s drinking water system in poor condition: Report

An assessment of the City of Cambridge’s infrastructure assets finds some troubling numbers with the city’s drinking water system .

The Interim 2024 Asset Management Plan was presented to councillors this week shows 27 per cent of the city’s drink water system is rated as “poor” or “very poor.” Overall, the drinking water system is listed as “fair,” with 51 per cent of the system being rated as “good” or “very good.”

The average age of assets is 35 years old and has a total replacement cost of $815 million.

Yogesh Shah, the Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure Services, noted that just because something is in poor or very poor conditions doesn’t mean it’s affecting its ability to meet service requirements.

“They are good enough to provide the services,” Shah said. “It is more prone to frequent failures, so you may experience more water main breaks because they are in the later stages of life.”

Meanwhile, the city’s stormwater and wastewater systems have been rated as “good” and “very good,” respectively. Only six per cent of the wastewater and seven per cent of the stormwater assets were found to be in “poor” or “very poor” conditions.

The report also notes the city has seen a “continued deterioration” of infrastructure condition, with 70 per cent of all the cities assets are rated as good or very good, a decrease from 74 per cent in 2017.