Record water-main breaks cost city an extra $1.2M

A fall season of record water-main breaks has cost the city about $4 million, outpacing previous years and racking up a $1.2-million budget overrun.

“This year we have spent more on water-main breaks than we have budgeted,” said waterworks director Pat Wilson. “But there are some areas where we did a little bit less work because our staff were deployed to water-main breaks.”

The hot, dry conditions caused ground to shift, rupturing hundreds of mains over August, September and October. But the weather also offered a silver lining for waterworks; Wilson said the aridity saved the city on waste water costs, particularly involving catch basins.

The department sets aside $2.8 million per year to deal with breaks. But that’s only part of a larger $9-million pot, enabling it to shift money from other areas. Reserves were available to make up any remaining budget gap. Wilson said underspending in prior years built up a cushion that will help avoid rate increases.

She shared the news during an event outlining the city’s capital spending for 2017, which totalled $88 million. Mayor Michael Fougere said it was “one of the most active seasons” for new and improved infrastructure.

The bulk of that spending — about $50 million — went for water, waste water and drainage. That includes work on storm pipes flowing into the Arcola Detention Pond, as well as new pipes along 5th Avenue N.

Fougere said council is especially proud of the $12 million spent on repaving 26 kilometres of residential roads, part of $30 million in improvements to transportation infrastructure. Norman Kyle, director of roadways and transportation, said the weather made 2017 a “really good year for road construction.”

The only downside, he said, came from those water-main breaks. The leaks forced crews to cut into roadways and sidewalks to get at the pipes. Kyle said it was clear his crews wouldn’t get all those cuts repaved before winter. His records show that about 360 cuts remain unfinished, a figure that doesn’t include minor work.

“We have numerous other small cuts that are done by the Crown corporations and utilities,” he said “Those are really quick and easy to get to in the spring.”

The transportation department’s water-main efforts forced them to delay a small number of other projects, Kyle said.