Relief for residents as water-main break fixed
Weeks-long rupture one of many dozens as city struggles with hot weather effects
Residents of Merlin Crescent were without water on Friday as City of Regina crews worked to fix a watermain break that had been running for weeks.
“It’s awesome, finally,” said Jeff Thul. “It’s just kind of a relief.”
Thul said the leak began about a month-and-a-half ago and got progressively worse in the past three weeks.
“You couldn’t walk by our house,” said Thul, as the sidewalk was under a puddle.
Another neighbour said he had to don rubber boots to take out his garbage.
Thul said he phoned the city twice to report the break. He believes neighbours made at least eight calls about it.
The City of Regina cites the break as being reported on Sept. 10.
According to the city, there were 102 water-main breaks in August.
The city was unable to provide numbers more recent than Aug. 29, when there were 65 running leaks to be repaired.
“The city appreciates residents’ patience as we work to repair water-main breaks,” it said in a prepared statement.
No one was available for an interview on Friday.
The breaks are due to ground shifting in hot and dry weather. Typically, the months of August and September see the highest number of breaks.
Thul understands that the city has been busy with water-main breaks: “It is what it is,” he said.
However, he wonders at the total amount of water that was wasted in the meantime, and how that would play out when it comes to residents’ water bills.
Since 1979, there have only been two years that exceeded 50 water main breaks — the last was in 2003, when there were 72.