Remember how I said that John Carman, Raleigh’s Public Utilities Director, has been going around telling anyone who’ll listen that Raleigh’s water infrastructure is aging rapidly and will soon need major maintenance? The Raleigh Public Record looked at the report put out by the city’s Water Utility Transition Advisory Task Force (WUTAT):
Raleigh’s underground water infrastructure, mainly pipes in the ground, needs more than $7 billion in repairs, according to City Public Utilities Director John Carman. These are not immediate costs, he said, but now is when Raleigh should be planning to replace pipes that will age out during the coming decades.
Carman told the Record the current financial model for the system does not put away any money to pay for replacing pipes that have a lifespan of anywhere from 60 to 100 years.
“We have $500 million worth of pipe that was installed before World War II,” Carman said.
Kudos to the Raleigh Public Record for raising awareness about this issue.