IN THE early 1980s, a major watermain was installed in Nanaimo using high pressure concrete pipe (Hyprescon) that was expected to have a lifespan of approximately 80 years, yet it failed prematurely, and it failed catastrophically. When the Hyprescon pipe failed on April 3, 2020, 22 million litres of water was lost. This resulted in three reservoirs being completely drained while leaving a hospital as well as thousands of people without water. It took a few hours to isolate the main, but a temporary repair was completed, and the hospital and residents had water service restored two days later.

A systematic review of the pipe revealed other signs of future leaks and structural failures, and the consequences of additional failures would be severe. To manage the risk, several measures were taken:

An emergency water supply shutdown procedure for the Hyprescon pipe section was implemented;

The 2021-2025 Capital Plan was reprioritized, and the Midtown Water Supply Project was introduced;

Other major water supply capital projects were deferred in an effort to make way for the Midtown Water Supply Project and balance the water supply budget within the City’s Financial Plan.

The initial upgrades to replace the Hyprescon pipe were estimated to cost $23.5 million, how
ever, due to a volatile construction market during COVID, and the addition of a secondary supply for redundancy, the cost is expected to be closer to $55 million.