Duluth, Minnesota had a major problem: more than 400 miles of ductile iron pipe water mains crisscrossing the city were failing, forcing the city to pay for costly repairs.

In 2002, Duluth experienced nearly 200 water main breaks and just as many leaks. In 2021 alone, the city spent roughly $1.6 million repairing more than 103 water main breaks and 88 leaks, which was merely temporary patchwork, rather than a permanent solution.

The Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA) research claims of a service life of more than 100 years is at best unreliable, as some of Duluth’s failing pipe system was only 20 years old.

The city could either continue costly and disruptive repairs that have immeasurable negative impact on the taxpayers, or find a sustainable solution.

The choice was easy: transitioning to a 100 percent high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conveyance system.

“People always ask me, ‘how do you fix HDPE if there’s a failure?’” said Eric Shaffer, Duluth’s chief engineer. “My answer is always the same: if the pipe is installed correctly, you won’t experience failures. Duluth laid over 50 miles of HDPE …we couldn’t be happier with the results.”

As many municipalities are forced to replace piping through their regions, often due to bursts and breaks, why aren’t more municipalities choosing HDPE over the two legacy pipe systems?

To answer the question, check out our blog on “The Evolution of Potable Water Pipes” for a look at the history of the three dominant municipal water pipe materials.