Watch the video above: deeper ground frost is one of the reasons behind more water main breaks
SASKATOON – The extreme cold conditions are taking a toll not only on Saskatoon residents but also on water mains in the Bridge City. City of Saskatoon crews have been busy attending to the breaks in what’s become an ongoing problem this winter.
For the past two weeks, one to four water main breaks have been reported daily, almost double the normal rate. Seven breaks occurred this weekend alone. Minus 44 wind chills and extended cold aren’t helping the situation.
“Older mains tend to have a little bit more problems due to corrosion and length of time they have been installed in the ground but frost action on pipe and the ground shift cause by frost can affect a main that was installed in 2013,” said Trent Schmidt, the acting director for the City of Saskatoon public works department.
Water trailers are being provided for a few sites, with the city making an effort to have them available within eight hours of water being shut off. As soon as water is restored at one location it is moved to the other.
“Sometimes when we have more than four breaks in the cue at any given time, the people that have been without water the longest generally get the trailers first,”Schmidt said.
If the city is hoping or looking for a light at the end of the tunnel or a reprieve, it’s possibly going to get worse before it gets better as temperatures for the next week are expected to be well below seasonal.
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