Pipeline safety guides
Practical, sourced guides for homeowners, farmers, contractors and anyone curious about the pipelines under Canadian ground. Each guide links to the regulator, utility or standard it relies on. For emergencies, always follow the instructions of 911, your gas utility or the pipeline operator.
- Click Before You Dig: how to request a utility locate in CanadaHow Click Before You Dig works in Canada: who to contact in each province, how much notice to give, what the 30-metre prescribed area means near pipelines.
- How deep are gas lines buried?How deep gas lines are buried, from service lines to transmission pipelines, why the actual depth can differ from the rules, and how to dig safely near them.
- Pipeline markers and locate colours: what the signs meanHow to read pipeline marker signs and the coloured paint and flags left by locators: what each colour means, what markers do not tell you and what to do next.
- What does natural gas smell like?Natural gas has no smell of its own. Learn what the odorant mercaptan smells like, other signs of a gas leak indoors and out, and what to do if you smell gas.
- Pipeline pigging explained: cleaning pigs, smart pigs and in-line inspectionWhat pipeline pigging is, how pigs travel through a line, the difference between cleaning pigs and smart pigs, and what in-line inspection tools can detect.
- Types of pipelines: gathering, feeder, transmission and distributionThe main types of oil and gas pipelines explained: flowlines, gathering, feeder, transmission and distribution lines, what each carries and who regulates them.
- Oil pipelines in Canada: the major systems and how they are regulatedA guide to Canada's main crude oil pipelines, including Enbridge Mainline, Trans Mountain, Keystone and Express, with capacities and who regulates them.