When a large drinking water pipe burst in Calgary last month, city residents were subject to water usage restrictions that lasted for weeks. Living in big cities, people tend to take it for granted that they can turn on a tap and clean, drinkable water will come out. But losing that ability calls into question how reliable our drinking water infrastructure really is.

Globe reporters Tu Thanh Ha and Oliver Moore investigated the state of drinking water systems in Canada’s 10 biggest cities. Oliver joins the show to talk about what they found, and why cities have such a hard time keeping such an essential service in a state of good repair.

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