A study by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada reported that the average break rate per 100 miles of pipe for ductile iron is 15.87. PVC exhibited only 1.17 breaks per 100 miles of pipe. The NRC report shows that ductile iron pipe breaks 13.57 times more than PVC pipe. This difference in break rates results in significant repair cost differences for PVC and ductile iron.
