Kitchener residents will see water bills increase to replace aging pipes

It looks like the City of Kitchener has some major plumbing problems and that means your water bill is going to go up. 

Last year, the city had 136 water main breaks, more than any other previous year.

Officials say that water supply pipelines in the city are eroding faster than anticipated and increasing construction costs have made replacement difficult. 

However, Dev Tayagi, the city's deputy Chief Administrative Officer, promises the increased costs of replacing pipes will be manageable for Kitchener taxpayers. 

"Even with the increase we're recommending the monthly cost to the average household for example, water supply will still be under $45 a month. When you look at the water as compared with anything else in life, I think it's a very cheap commodity, at $43-$44 a month, that's very cheap," he said to CBC News. 

Tyagi wants to double the current rate of pipeline replacement, because at the current rate it would take over 170 years to replace all 900 kilometres of pipe in Kitchener. 

"Instead of replacing only five kilometres of pipes, we should be replacing double or more than double, about 11 kilometres of pipe every year," said Tayagi.