Not as visible as roads and bridges, water supply systems, which include water pumping stations, water filtration facilities and water distribution systems, are key assets of public infrastructure. They are vital to our day-to-day well-being.13 In 2007, the value of the gross stock invested in these infrastructures amounted to $32.3 billion, or 11% of the five public assets.
Most water supply systems are owned and maintained by local governments. From 2001 to 2007, the value of the gross stock for this infrastructure increased by 5.1% a year on average, 10 times faster than the rate for roads and bridges. The growth was above average in British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta. These provinces also recorded strong growth in their urban population during the period.
As a result, the average age of the stock was reduced from 16.9 years in 2001 to an all-time low of 14.8 years in 2007. Nearly 40% of this reduction in age was attributable to Ontario, where the average age dropped by 4.1 years to 13.1 years. The only other province where water supply systems were younger than in Ontario was British Columbia at 11.4 years in 2007. The average age of water supply systems rose in only two provinces, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. By 2007, Canada's water supply systems had reached 40% of their useful live (which is 36.8 years on average).
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13. See "Report of the Walkerton Inquiry", Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2002, http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/walkerton/ (accessed December 20, 2007).