The City of Red Deer has been hearing from concerned Red Deerians since Sunday’s W5 episode drew public attention to the 10 per cent of our municipal water pipes that contain asbestos.
Red Deer was shown to be among at least 85 Canadian municipalities that still have asbestos cement pipes in their water systems.
Red Deer has 62 km of asbestos cement water pipes. Water supervisor Alex Monkman said these are mostly in Anders, Bower and Normandeau, but also in some other locations around the city.
Asbestos cement pipes make up about 10 per cent of the city’s water distribution system. This is far less than in Prince George at (67 per cent), Regina and St. Albert (about just under 40 per cent) Medicine Hat (32 per cent), or Lethbridge, Kamloops and Saskatoon at (29 per cent).
But Monkman said the W5 program still did alarm “a fair number” of Red Deerians who have been contacting the city to inquire about the safety of our drinking water.
On Sunday, CTV’s documentary-news series featured an interview with plumber Michael Abercrombie, who used to install asbestos cement pipes for sewer and storm drains, and expressed shock that these pipes are being used to deliver drinking water.
Abercrombie said there’s a potential for cancer-causing asbestos to come off the pipe and be consumed.
While theoretically true, Monkman noted Health Canada says there is no evidence of any significant amounts of asbestos fibers entering water systems from leaching or the deterioration of asbestos cement pipes, through their studies.
The City’s treatment processes ensure that our water “is not aggressive to AC pipes,” added Monkman.
Also, since Red Deer’s water is hard, a scale forms on all pipes which further reduces contamination potential, he added.
Monkman believes the greatest chance of asbestos fibers entering the water system is when the pipe is cut during repair or removal. Therefore, he said, the city follows strict procedures by removing, relining and or replacing asbestos cement pipes during any construction whenever it makes sense to do so.
There are no plans to completely replace asbestos cement mains in the city.
While experts confirm that some amount of asbestos can leach into water from these pipes over time, there’s no evidence that there are any health effects from this.
Health Canada makes municipalities test for 90 different contaminants in water, but has no requirement or standards set for measuring asbestos. However, Monkman said the U.S. sets a health threshold at seven million fibres per litre of water.
Regina is one of the few Canadian cities that regularly tests its water for asbestos, and found fibres to be non-detectable since 2016.
Monkman added the City of Red Deer is committed to the safe handling of this type of material and the practical removal of asbestos pipes “at every opportunity.”
