Waiting until water damage occurs is expensive. But it also doesn’t make financial sense to replace pipes too early. We looked into the best time to do it.

Many housing and condominium associations must decide whether to replace water and sewage pipes. The risk of water leakage needs to be weighed against the costs of fully or partially upgrading the pipe system. A systematic lifespan assessment can provide the board with a good basis for making the decision.

Leaks in water and sewage systems can occur in different ways, and the consequences vary depending on the location of the leak and which materials are affected.

• A leak in a hidden installation on a high floor can cause more damage than a leak in the basement.
• If the water supply is interrupted, several residential units could be result in extensive water damage. In the worst case, the homes would need to be rehabilitated, and the residents would have to move out while the damage is repaired.
• Small leaks are not always detected immediately, but over time can lead to significant damage, such as rot, mold and odor, as well as swelling and salt migration in structures.

Finding the right time for a complete or partial replacement of the water and sewage system is therefore both financially and practically worthwhile.

Researchers at SINTEF have been assessing the condition and remaining life of pipe systems for over 20 years, and we are regularly contacted by condominium owners who wonder whether and when they should replace their pipework. We conduct inspections and laboratory tests to assess the condition of the water and sewage system. Our assessments and recommendations are summarized in a report.

How we calculate condition and remaining lifespan

Age is a simple indicator for assessing the remaining life of pipes, and lifespan tables published by the SINTEF Byggforskserien (Building Research Design Guides) provide helpful guidance. However, age alone does not take into account factors such as load, temperature or water quality.

A more accurate assessment of the condition of pipes requires material samples and laboratory analysis (Norway’s NS 3424 standard, level 3). Remaining life is calculated based on the corrosion rate and remaining material thickness. However, such a calculation assumes that this rate is uniform. Changes in water quality and use can affect the corrosion rate, and the calculated remaining life is therefore only indicative.

It is also important to be aware that couplings and valves may have a shorter lifespan than pipes, and that hidden joints increase the risk of damage.

Material samples from critical points in the pipe system provide the best basis for a reliable assessment. Good sampling points can be easily identified if we have access to accurate and up-to-date drawings of the building and the pipe system.

Are the maps and terrain in sync?

However, it is not always practical to retrieve all samples, which might be hidden behind recesses in a bathroom, for example. In addition, the drawing may be outdated, and changes to the installation may have been made without being documented.

An inspection is therefore useful for assessing the correspondence between the drawings and actual installation. At the same time, a cost/benefit assessment should be made for each material sample. If the location for sampling is not easily accessible, the cost will be high.

The frequency of damage should also be included in the assessment. If several leaks have recently occurred, it would be natural to consider replacing the entire pipe system, even if the age indicates that the pipes could last longer. Previous replacements might have led to a confusing system with varying material quality and age.

Upgrade plan and prioritization

Once the condition and remaining life have been assessed, a decision must be made as to which measures should be implemented—and when. We recommend creating an upgrade plan in which necessary measures are prioritized based on technical condition, damage history and overall assessment.

Upgrade measures on the pipe system should be considered in connection with the condition of the wet rooms to avoid extensive demolition work. If the installations are generally in good condition, local repairs may be appropriate. In the event of a high risk of leakage due to varying quality of the wet room installations, or in the event of extensive wear, replacing the entire system may be more appropriate.

Coordinated rehabilitation includes replacing water and sewage pipes, sealing layers, drains, surfaces and electrical installations. The work involves noise and dust, especially during the demolition phase, and the bathroom will typically be out of service for 4–6 weeks. However, the result is a comprehensive system without weak interfaces.

Relining is a method for extending the service life of sewage pipes. Epoxy is applied to the inside of the pipes either by spraying or as a fiber stocking saturated with epoxy. This method can be considered if the water pipes have a longer remaining life than the sewage pipes. It requires less intervention and shorter downtime, but can still involve more difficult work if the drains have to be replaced.

Extensive work and significant costs are usually associated with maintaining and rehabilitating water and sewage systems in housing and condominium associations. A thorough life cycle assessment provides increased security that the chosen solution is correct, and it forms a solid basis for a predictable and effective maintenance plan.

Comparing Our Favorite Smart Displays

More Smart Displays We Like

Echo Hub for $180: The Echo Hub isn’t exactly a smart display. It lacks powerful speaker capabilities and doesn’t have a camera for calls or Amazon’s Drop-In video call feature. Instead, it focuses entirely on being a smart home dashboard with built-in Alexa, plus features like widgets and the photo frame. I think it takes the best, most easily used features of a smart display and cuts out the rest. But if you want a good speaker, don’t choose this one.

Echo Show 5 (3rd Gen, 2023) for $90: The smaller and cheaper third-gen Echo Show 5 has a 5.5-inch screen that works best on a desk or a bedside table. We think it’s a bit too small for the kitchen or living room, but that depends on how you plan to use it.

Echo Show 15 for $300: This is the largest of them all, with a 15.6-inch display, and it has customizable widgets so you can have smart-home device controls and calendar reminders available whenever. It’s made to be mounted on your wall like a TV (a stand is sold separately), and the Show 15 pairs with a Fire TV remote (you can use the app) to use the streaming features. With the new Alexa+ I’ve found myself liking it a lot more, and it’s much less distracting than the rotating slideshows you get on smaller Echo Shows. It’s a splurge, though, and I still wish the streaming capabilities were better.

Google Nest Hub for $100: Google’s second-gen Nest Hub is a great option if you don’t need a camera and don’t mind a smaller 7-inch screen. It has a wake-up alarm that emulates the rising sun for gentler mornings, though it’s not bright enough to qualify as a sunrise alarm clock. It also has sleep-tracking tech to track your sleep quality, though the quality of the results isn’t great. It also supports gestures—like playing or pausing a video with a hand movement—by using unique radar tech.

Google Pixel Tablet for $499: This tablet doubles as a smart speaker when placed on its speaker dock. It works well, but it’s not currently slated to get Google’s new assistant, Gemini for Home. If that changes, we’ll go back to recommending it. But we’re not sure it will: availability has been limited for the speaker base, and could point to this device being discontinued altogether.

Smart Displays to Skip

We don’t like every smart display. Here are the ones we’re skipping after trying them out.

Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen, 2021) for $250: This smart display is situated on top of a large cylindrical speaker, which makes it sound great. The screen physically swivels to follow you around the room as you use it, keeping you in frame while you video chat or keeping your streamed workout video in your line of sight as you move about. Because the screen moves around so much, you may have trouble positioning it in tighter spaces—especially in corners. It’s a unique model, and is still out of stock like it was this summer. I suspect the upcoming new Echo Show 11 ($220) might replace it, since it has a similar design (but leaves out the movement gimmick).

Third-Party Google Displays: Google is no longer updating software for some of the third-party smart displays we used to recommend in this guide. If you have one, it will still work, but some features will likely suffer or disappear entirely as time passes. This seems to be the fate of most third-party Google smart displays, which is why we don’t recommend them anymore. Google did say they’ll be working with partners to bring Gemini for Home to third-party devices, so we’ll see how that pans out.

What About Alexa+ and the New Echo Shows?

Amazon has been randomly rolling out its new version of Alexa, named Alexa+, in early access since the spring. This second generation of the Alexa voice assistant is more conversational, able to execute complex tasks and learn new information, and can be much more personalized. That’ll be due to its being powered by generative AI. Check out our hands-on with early access Alexa+ for more more about our experience.

Unlike the current Alexa, once it’s fully available, it’ll cost $20 a month or be free if you have an Amazon Prime membership. This is a big jump from the free assistant, but you can keep the current Alexa for free if you don’t wish for another subscription or have an Amazon Prime membership. Right now, it’s also only available in early access for Echo Show devices. You can sign up here for the wait list.

Alexa+ will be immediately available on its newest devices coming this fall, however. There will be two new smart displays, the Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) and Echo Show 11, and two new smart speakers, the Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio (2nd Gen). We’re curious how the new models will compare to our current favorites, and we will update this guide once we test them.

It’s also important to note that Alexa+ has forced a privacy change for all Echo devices. Echo devices used to be able to process voice recordings locally on your device, but the “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy feature was killed in March. Now all voice recordings will be sent to Amazon to be processed in order to make Alexa+ function, but even if you don’t end up using Alexa+, the feature is gone.

What About Gemini for Home and Google’s Smart Displays?

Amazon isn’t the only one rolling out a new version of its assistant. Gemini for Home is Google’s similarly AI-powered smart assistant that will replace Google Assistant in just about all of its available speakers. Unlike Amazon’s new assistant, Gemini for Home will be free, but Google is changing its Nest Aware subscription to become a subscription that’s both for video storage and for more powerful assistant features.

Google is also rolling out a new speaker in the spring, but no new smart display is slated yet. The new assistant will come to all of Google’s existing lineup except for the Google Pixel Tablet, which we no longer recommend since it’s not currently planned to get support with the new assistant. Google did say they plan to work with third-party partners to bring Gemini for Home to more devices, so we might see new third-party displays that we can recommend again. We’ll update this guide as we learn more, but for now, Google’s Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub are the best smart displays to purchase if you want access to Google’s new assistant.

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The vast majority of consumer electronics use lithium-ion batteries, and with each generation, these devices are designed smaller, lighter and with longer battery life to meet the growing demands of consumers. Each new iteration also brings the batteries that power the devices closer to the limits of their size, weight and performance.

Researchers are constantly testing new approaches and materials for making lightweight, high-performance components. The latest contender is MXene, a type of metallically conductive two-dimensional nanomaterial discovered by Drexel University researchers that has recently demonstrated potential as a current collector, the part of the battery that directs electrical current to its electrodes.

A recent paper from Drexel researchers reports that a current collector made of MXene film could reduce the battery’s weight and thickness while improving its available capacity.

Published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science, the paper reports that MXene current collectors perform as well as the copper foils being used in current lithium-ion batteries, but they are three to four times thinner and about 10 times lighter.

Using them to make the battery components would reduce the overall weight contribution from inactive materials, allowing for more energy-storing material to be used without increasing the battery’s weight, thus improving the battery’s capacity.

The researchers also demonstrated that the MXene current collectors can be readily recycled for use in other batteries, an important step toward reducing battery waste and conserving limited material resources.

Current collectors are key to battery performance because they direct the flow of electrons within the battery, directing them to and from the electrode, which translates the chemical energy into the electrical current that powers electronic devices. They are also prime contributors to a battery’s weight—comprising nearly 15% of its total weight.

“Recent progress in battery technology is centered on improving capacity while reducing their weight,” said Yury Gogotsi, Ph.D., Distinguished University and Bach professor in Drexel’s College of Engineering, who was a leader of the research.

“But the field has also widely acknowledged the importance of finding recyclable alternatives to current battery components in order to ensure their sustainable manufacturing. Our findings suggest that MXene materials could be a strong candidate for use in the batteries of the future.”

MXenes have been tested in dozens of applications—including several in energy storage—since their discovery at Drexel more than a decade ago. Their aptitude for use as a current collector is tied to their exceptional electrical conductivity, excellent flexibility and high mechanical strength. MXenes also remain electrochemically stable in acidic and corrosive electrolytes, and are dispersible in water, which allows for easy processing.

“This is an exciting finding because MXenes are compatible with a variety of electrode materials, so they have the potential to improve next-generation batteries without requiring significant structural design changes,” said Professor Patrice Simon, Ph.D., a co-author of the research from Université de Toulouse in France.

The final test of the components examined the cycling stability and recyclability of the MXene current collector. After eight weeks of continuous charging and discharging, the MXene–graphite electrode maintained good adhesion; the graphite active material remained evenly distributed, and did not detach from the MXene film.

The MXene current collector also preserved its layered structure, showing no degradation. Using a simple and environmentally friendly recycling process developed by the team, the electrode was disassembled and reconstituted using reclaimed materials for the current collector. Electrochemical testing confirmed that its performance remained unchanged.

“As battery materials become increasingly scarce, and sustainability and circular economy become increasingly important, it will be essential to design components that can be reused,” said Yuan Zhang, Ph.D., who is a post-doctoral researcher in Gogotsi’s lab and co-author of the research.

“Thanks to their outstanding electrochemical durability, MXenes can be recycled without losing much of their exceptional properties.”

The investigation was led by Sokhna Dieng, Schlumberger Future Fellow in Gogotsi’s lab, who contributed to the work as part of her doctoral research. She plans to continue exploring MXenes as conductive additives and other passive components in batteries that can improve performance and also enhance safety by preventing dendrite growth.

“We envision batteries with MXene components being used one day in wearable and portable microelectronics, where size and weight are absolutely critical and the amount of material required is minimal,” Gogotsi said.

“Another potential use is in systems where low weight is essential, such as drones or other flying vehicles.”