Water Main Break Rates in the United States and Canada

Key Takeaways A 2023 report on US and Canada water main breaks is one of the most thorough and statistically important ever undertaken and compares trends from previous studies in 2012 and 2018. Nearly 20%, or 452,000 miles, of water pipe are past their useful lives and need to be replaced, but they have not been because of a $452 billion shortfall in funding. Of a total inventory of 2.3 million miles of pipe, 33% of all water mains are more than 50 years old, representing 770,000 miles at risk. The United States and Canada experience 260,000 water main breaks annually with $2.6 billion in annual repair costs.