City adds resources to deal with water leaks
City workers and ‘staff from other areas’ scramble to repair 55 active breaks
There are now about 55 active water leaks in Regina, and the city’s Water Works director is pulling in extra resources to get them all fixed.
“We are keeping our crews out there,” said Pat Wilson. “They are working through weekends. We’re trying to get as many crews as possible to two breaks in a day ... We’re pulling in staff from other areas.”
With 231 confirmed water-main breaks so far in 2018, the year-todate total actually exceeds last year’s tally of 213 by Sept. 11. But that’s mostly because of a large number of winter breaks. Last year’s summer break season remains “unprecedented.”
“We’ve never seen numbers like that before,” said Wilson. “And I hope we don’t see them again. This year is still very high, just nowhere near what we were at last year.”
She said crews have fixed 27 main breaks this month, precisely half the 54 they repaired during the same period last year. August 2018 was also far behind, with 51 compared to 103 the year previous.
Wilson said costs are still likely to fall within budget, though the department may have to sacrifice other projects as a result.
“What that typically means is that there’s other work that isn’t getting done because we’re directing crews to main breaks,” she said. “... So there may be some sewer work that is waiting, or hydrant installations.”
The city generally spends about $3 million per year on repairing water-main breaks. This year’s costs are expected to exceed that, but there is also a reserve set aside for fluctuations. The hardest-hit areas tend to be in older neighbourhoods, generally within the confines of the Ring Road. Wilson said those areas are more likely to have concrete or cast-iron pipes, which are less resilient.
But the department is pushing forward with new technologies that can extend the life of older pipes, including through relining, which Wilson said can make aging pipes almost like new. She called it “a very cost-effective method.”
Wilson is now turning her hopes skyward, saying that rain will help bring an end to the heavy break season and soak in an underground safety buffer for the winter.
“The more moisture there is in the soil, the less movement and shifting we see,” she said. “When we get water in the soil going into winter, the frost doesn’t go down as fast, and so we’re likely to see a less severe break season as we get into January, February.”
She said it can take as little as a couple of hours to repair a simple break, but others are far more complicated. She said city workers try to “inconvenience the lowest possible number of customers.”
Wilson said her department relies on residents to call in when they see breaks or lose service.
“We want to make sure we get out there and deal with ones that create a public-safety concern and deal with the ones where a customer may be out of water,” she said. “We’re looking for everyone’s help.”