Fire hydrant keeps water flowing after pipe bursts
Burst pipe located underneath intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Martin Street
With hundreds of rooms at the Penticton Lakeside Resort suddenly dry following a water-main break outside the hotel early Thursday morning, city crews found a novel way to get the taps running again.
After cutting off the normal water supply to the hotel, firefighters connected a hydrant on the street to one at the hotel to feed the resort’s water supply that way.
“It’s a creative way of doing it,” city public works manager Len Robson said early Thursday afternoon once the permanent the fix was in.
David Prystay, the resort’s general manager, praised city crews for their quick response and minimal impact on the hotel.
“They had us taken care of in minutes,” he said.
The burst pipe was located underneath the intersection of Lakeshore Drive and Martin Street.
It was reported around 12:30 a.m. when water began spewing onto the road, carrying mud onto surrounding sidewalks and lifting asphalt in the intersection.
Robson said the damaged section of 25-centimetre, cast-iron water main was installed in 1950 and therefore near the end of its life expectancy, which ranges from 75 to 100 years.
The leak sprouted from a crack where two lengths of pipe were joined together.
Thursday’s incident occurred just four metres away from another break on the same line that occurred in January.
Robson said the earlier leak was suspected to have been triggered by frost causing the ground to shift, which may have also contributed to Thursday’s pipe failure.
The intersection will be repaved next week.