A recent water main break in San Francisco on equipment dating back to 1895 caused flooding and water to seep into the Moscone Center and the unfinished MTA subway line, bringing attention once again to the city’s aging pipe problems.
Over the past year-and-a-half, the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit has been looking into this very issue. Leaking water pipes lose an estimated 10 percent of the bay's potable water every year. And many of the system's pipes have aged well beyond their expected retirement, causing an average of three breaks every day in the entire Bay Area and tens of millions of gallons of water lost. Local water companies have beefed up their proactive replacement efforts, but with 5,000 miles of pipes from the North Bay to San Jose, it's tough to keep up.
You can find all of our previous Investigative Unit reports on the subject here:
