Striking a Balance in the North: How Edmonton Gets the Most from Its Water Transmission Main Condition Assessment Program

Abstract

Edmonton, with a population of 1.4 million, is North America’s northernmost major city. The weather is below freezing for a third of the year (the coldest day in 2024 was -47°C (-52°F)), compressing the construction season and creating competing priorities. EPCOR, the region’s water and power utility, budgeted over $1.8 billion in capital investments from 2024 to 2027 to support reliability, city growth, flood mitigation, odour reduction, and other performance improvements. This includes EPCOR’s Water Transmission Main Condition Assessment Program covering 510 km (320 mi) of pipelines. Managing the program among so many other regional priorities is challenging. Proactive and preventative maintenance projects aren’t always the most attention grabbing. Getting the most out of each water transmission main assessment project is a must for EPCOR. With influence from Alberta’s oil and gas pipeline industry, EPCOR has embraced the most advanced inspection technologies. They leverage free-swimming inline inspection (ILI) tools that can inspect and assess long distances in a short period of time but add inherent project risk. Balancing this risk and efficiency takes planning, with EPCOR identifying potential projects up to one year in advance. EPCOR’s program started in 2018 with critical and large-diameter valve assessment and expanded in 2019 to include high-resolution ILI of water transmission mains. In total, EPCOR has assessed nearly 50 km (30 mi) of water transmission mains and over 1,300 valves. There have been challenges, but the successes have far outweighed them with multiple proactive repairs that prevented failures and helped maintain public confidence and utility reputation. The presentation will summarize EPCOR’s Water Transmission Main Condition Assessment Program, including highlights, challenges, and results.