Bruce hollands
Bruce Hollands is President & CEO of the PVC Pipe Association, a non-profit organization representing U.S. and Canadian manufacturers of sustainable, corrosion-proof PVC pipe for water, sewer, and irrigation infrastructure since 1971. Mr. Hollands is the primary liaison with all levels of government and regulatory agencies and is responsible for developing public policy, technical standards, and establishing the Association’s strategic direction. Bruce has over 25 years of experience working with local government, water utilities, and related state/provincial and federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada. He holds degrees in political science and history and is a member of the American Water Works Association, American Society of Testing and Materials, American Society of Association Executives and serves on the Board of Directors for the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management (SWIM) Center at Virginia Tech.
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New Study Confirms PVC Has Lowest Break Rate of Most Commonly Used Water Pipes in US and Canada
New Study Confirms PVC Has Lowest Break Rate of Most Commonly Used Water Pipes in US and Canada
Bruce Hollands - Uni-Bell PVC Pipe Association
Abstract
Utah State University (USU) recently conducted the most comprehensive water main survey ever undertaken in the US and Canada. The objective was to understand how utilities use pipe in their water systems and determine the performance of different materials. Of the 802 basic survey respondents, 791 participants provided water main distribution data totaling almost 400,000 miles of pipe. This pipe mileage represents 17.1% out of an estimated 2.3 million miles of water mains installed in the US and Canada, making this the largest survey of its kind. A report was published in December of 2023.
When compared to asbestos cement, cast iron, ductile iron, and steel, PVC had the lowest failure rate and cast iron had the highest, at 2.9 and 28.6 breaks/(100 mi-year), respectively. USU published similar studies in 2012 and 2018. The 2023 report references the previous studies to analyze changes over time and shows that PVC pipe not only had lowest break rate of all commonly used water mains over the last decade but has become the most predominant material in use in the US and Canada.
The large data set from the survey respondents allowed USU researchers to develop a comprehensive understanding of the following: age and size distribution of pipe in water utilities; pipe failures over time by material type and diameter; most common pipe failure modes; the extent of corrosive soils; the influence of corrosive soils on break rates; corrosion prevention methods used; expected life of new pipe; condition assessment methods; allowed pipe materials; how break rates are affected by pipe diameter; typical and maximum water pressure in water mains; and average and maximum daily water demand.
Break rates for water mains were examined over 12-month and five-year periods and compared to more than a decade of data. The performance of different pipe materials in small, medium, large, and very large water utilities was also examined.
The paper discusses the major findings and benchmarks, including pipe durability as it continues to be impacted by soil corrosivity, and how the replacement of asbestos cement and cast iron pipe is creating a shift in predominant pipe materials.