City prepares for more water main breaks
Widespread issue related to weather this year, not age of pipes, official says
Our objective is to have the water restored, or the water pressure restored, within 48hoursofthe break.
The lack of snow on the ground paired with very cold temperatures is creating the ideal conditions for water main breaks and the freezing of pipes leading from water mains into homes.
Russ Munro, Saskatoon’s director of water and waste stream, said at a news conference Friday that breaks have been happening quite evenly all over the city so far this winter, which leads them to believe breaks are not related to the age of the pipes and are instead simply being caused by the frost penetrating the soil and causing the ground to heave.
“Right now we are seeing frost from four to seven feet and that’s starting to approach some of our water and sewer infrastructure,” he said. “With the frost heaving and the earth moving — mother nature always wins.”
Munro said the city has plans in place for when breaks happen, including providing water to affected families through trailers or jugs and having multiple crews throughout the city servicing any breaks as they happen.
“Our objective is to have the water restored, or the water pressure restored, within 48 hours of the break. This is the time of year that becomes the most difficult. When we have the deep frost into the ground and frost in the soil it’s like moving concrete,” he explained. “So it does extend the excavation timelines to get to the pipes.”
He also added that the city has agreements with water and sewer contractors if they are unable to keep up.
There are a variety of preventive actions that homeowners can take to help protect their water connections from freezing, Munro said. These measures include piling snow on the route the connection takes outside their home — which will help create some of that missing insulation caused by the lack of snow on the ground — and insuring their pipes are in rooms that are heated and properly insulated.