Seventy-five years ago, the city of Phoenix was about to embark on its first population boom. Now, a lot of the water and sewer pipelines installed during that time are nearing the end of their usable life.
Pipeline averages a life expectancy of about 75 years but can range from 50 to 100. Operating on that average, Phoenix Water Services Department staff forecasted the city will need to spend $20.9 billion over the next 75 years to rehabilitate or replace the more than 12,100 miles of water and sewer pipeline in the city.
However, a lot of that spending will have to come on the front end of that 75-year period. About 41% of the city’s pipelines were built between 1950 and 1980 during the peak years of the city’s population growth. Those pipes will begin to age out from 2025 and 2055.
