It is estimated that more than 40,000 km of asbestos-cement water and sewer pipes remain in the ground across Australia. Installed between the 1920s and 1980s, these asbestos-cement pipes are reaching the end of their usable lifespan, requiring maintenance or replacement.
Guidelines
The Asbestos-Cement Water and Sewer Pipe Management Guidelines provide information to assist water and/or sewerage service providers eliminate or minimise the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres released from asbestos-cement (AC) pipes, by providing practical advice on how to identify, assess and control the risk in accordance with current work health and safety and environment protection laws.
AC pipes become hazardous when asbestos fibres are released into the air or soil, which can occur during maintenance and removal of AC water and sewer pipes. Methods to safely remediate deteriorating AC pipes and manage decommissioned AC pipes that remain in the ground are provided.
<h2>Case studies</h2><p>To support the Guidelines, case studies have been collated to highlight practices used by a variety of water and/or sewerage service providers (referred to as ‘water agencies’) to manage and remove AC pipes in Australia. They were provided by water agencies in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.</p>