WATER MAIN BREAKS – WEEKLY UPDATE

Since February 28, following a significant period of extreme cold temperatures, there have been 71 water main breaks in Saskatoon.  While they tend to be slightly above average at this time of year, this is still about seven times the average.  As of this afternoon, there are 23 water main breaks in our queue to repair.

City and contract crews continue to work long days to repair locations as quickly as possible, but affected residents can still expect to be without water service for four to seven days.  We are doing our best to accommodate everyone with temporary water in a day from when a water main break is reported.

Temporary Water
Water trailers will continue to be provided to affected areas, but there are not enough to supply all of the areas at this time.  To prevent longs waits for a water trailer to be delivered, we are providing the average recommended amount of drinking water for three days to each affected home.  Each day, two to three 19-litre (five-gallon) jugs of drinking water are delivered to new locations without water and to refill locations after three days.  These deliveries are provided through the water jug supplier and occur late afternoon and early evening. 

Once the repair is completed and water service is restored to locations where jugs of water were supplied, City staff will collect all of the jugs for sterilization and re-use.  To supply the large volume of homes with jugs of water, the supplier had to deplete their stock and we would like to minimize the cost where possible.  If you are not at home when our staff comes to your door, please call our customer service call centre to make arrangements for us to return.  We greatly appreciate everyone’s cooperation in returning the re-usable water jugs.  

Residents who are without water due to a water main break are invited to use the shower facilities at the City Leisure Centre closest to them.  Please present identification or a recent utility bill with your address, so staff can provide free admittance.                                               

What is causing these water main breaks?

With the type and age of the city’s water and sewer infrastructure, water main breaks are a normal occurrence at any time of year.  When there is a change in temperature that affects ground conditions, such as extreme cold or extreme heat, the underground pipes can move.  Extra pressure on a weak point may cause it to break.  This is consistent with many communities across the country.  What is different this year is that the ground frost level has reached as deep as the underground pipes, almost three metres (ten feet)!  With warm temperatures, the frost is starting to come out of the ground, but it will take several weeks of the same heat to reach the deepest frost.  

Be prepared

Every home should have an emergency preparedness plan for any time of the year, not just for water outage.  Residents in areas where water main breaks have occurred in the past few years, including neighbourhoods adjacent to current water main breaks, are encouraged to be prepared by having extra drinking water stored as a precaution.  The recommended supply of water to have on hand for a 72-hour period is 3.8 litres (one gallon) per person or pet per day.  Emergency preparedness information is available on the Government of Canada’s public safety website getprepared.gc.ca, including further recommendations for an emergency water supply. 

Frozen water connections
Home owners are also reporting frozen water connections, where there is a blockage on the water connection from the City’s water main to the private home. If your water does not turn on, it may be an issue with the private portion of your water connection.  If there is an issue on the City portion, we will come out and use specialized equipment to thaw the line from your home.  Staff are experiencing a high number of frozen water connections, so they may not be able to inspect a location for up to 24 hours.  To help prevent this, we recommend making sure the pipes are well-insulated, including the portion at the outside walls of your home. 

Water service is currently off at the following locations:
- 612 Spadina Crescent East
- 602 4th Avenue North
- 2106 William Avenue (incl. Gladmer Park)
- 74 Bence Crescent
- 1537 Avenue G North
- 99 Howell Avenue
- 2116 14th Street East
- 53 Maxwell Crescent
- 114 Nesbitt Crescent
- 2702 Clinkskill Drive
- 37 Simpson Crescent
- 1415 Argyle Avenue
- 805 47th Street East
- Connaught Place & Idylwyld Drive North
- 57 Malcolm Place
- 127 Charlebois Crescent
- 156 St Lawrence Crescent
- 4138 DeGeer Street
- 1109 Osler Street
- 1238 Elliott Street
- 629 4th Street East
- 1023 Osler Street
- 1109 Taylor Street East

Current water main breaks are available on the City’s website.  This list is updated daily, including over the weekend.

We want to thank everyone for their cooperation and understanding.  If you are affected by a water outage and have any questions, or to report a water main break, please call the Public Works customer service call centre 24/7 at 306-975-2476.  Find out more about the Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory that is in effect when the water is turned back on.

For more City of Saskatoon Public Service Announcements, News Releases, Traffic Detours and Service Alerts, visit www.saskatoon.ca or connect with the City of Saskatoon on Twitter and Facebook from the links at saskatoon.ca.