Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan has released a forecast of long-term replacement and repair costs of water facilities. It estimates that if facilities are simply replaced at the current rate, the average annual investment over the 30 years from FY2021 to FY2050 will be 1.8 trillion yen. This is about 500 billion yen more than the average annual investment of 1.3 trillion yen over the past 10 years. The ministry believes that construction investment can be reduced by optimizing the size of facilities based on future water demand and by consolidating and eliminating facilities, and is urging waterworks operators, mainly local governments, to conduct systematic maintenance and management.

According to the ministry, there are about 150,000 km of pipelines that have exceeded their legal service life (40 years), accounting for 20.6% of the total. Looking at replacement costs for the next 30 years by facility, the total cost of pipeline replacement will be 33.5 trillion yen. However, it was estimated that the cost could be reduced by up to 16% to 28.3 trillion yen if pipe diameters are reduced in light of declining water demand. The ministry estimates that a total of 19.6 trillion yen will need to be invested in water treatment facilities over the next 30 years, but this can be reduced by up to 33% to 13.2 trillion yen by reducing the size of facilities and consolidating or eliminating existing facilities.

The ministry will encourage municipalities and other waterworks operators to implement efficient asset management, such as restructuring facilities, optimizing the size of facilities, and revising water rates to secure financial resources. Through such efforts, an official of the Waterworks Division of the ministry hopes that "waterworks facilities will be passed on to future generations in good condition”. (2023/03/17)