Half of Scotland’s asbestos piping is now over its safe lifespan

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Shetland Beatrice Wishart has today revealed the results of an investigation by her party which reveals that more than 10% of Scotland’s piping uses asbestos piping and that more than half of these pipes are now over their safe lifespan.

Asbestos cement pipes have been used since the early 1900s. Scottish Water previously noted that “We are proactively targeting A/C pipe replacement as we know these mains are coming to the end of their useful life (50–70 years)”

The risk associated with these pipes is two-fold, firstly that having exceeded their original lifespan means they will be increasingly prone to bursting, and secondly that as they degrade over time asbestos fibres can get into the drinking water supply.

A study of 50-year-old pipes in Slovenia showed the gradual degradation over the years allowed asbestos fibres into the water. There is typically considered to be no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

In February, Ms Wishart sought clarity over the presence of Asbestos pipes in her Shetland constituency. Her question was ignored by acting minister for climate action Alasdair Allan.

Now figures provided by Scottish Water to Scottish Liberal Democrats have revealed that:

• 11% of all water mains types in Scotland are still asbestos cement pipes

• This gets much higher in some rural areas, with Perth and Kinross seeing the highest level (27%), followed by Angus (26%), Dumfries and Galloway (25%) and Shetland (23%).

• Across Scotland 52.5% of asbestos cement pipes are over 70 years old.

• Since 2016/17 there have been 11,159 instances of asbestos cement pipes bursting.

Ms Wishart said:

“These are troubling figures and ones that ministers should immediately explore with Scottish Water.

“While there is no conclusive verdict on the scale of the risk that asbestos pipes pose to health, experts are agreed that older pipes are increasingly prone to bursting and this means that asbestos fibres can get into the drinking water supply.

“Scotland has not invested properly in its infrastructure. When it comes to issues like dangerous concrete in our public buildings, sewage in our rivers and now reliance on asbestos piping, the SNP have taken an out of sight, out of mind approach.

“That kind of short-term thinking means that when a crisis happens, they will be left playing catch up.

“Given that these pipes make up as much as a quarter of our water infrastructure in some parts of the country, it’s time to take explore what can be done to ensure that every Scot has access to safe and secure drinking water.”