Thousands of Winnipeg homes at risk as hundreds wait for pipe thawing

WINNIPEG – The number of homes in Winnipeg without running water continues to grow.

There were 868 homes waiting for their pipes to be thawed Sunday, and the approximate wait time for the service was 17 days, the city said. Pipes reported frozen on Feb. 20 were being thawed on Monday.

“We’re thawing about 15, on average, properties per day, but we’re getting about 70 new properties per day, so every day that this goes on, that wait list is going to grow,” Diane Sacher, the city’s director of water and waste, said on the weekend.

The city had installed temporary hoses to 173 of the homes without water as of Sunday, and hundreds more had been contacted about the possibility of having hoses installed. The hoses run between homes without water and neighbouring properties where the owners have agreed to help out.

Another 4,965 homes have been identified as at risk of experiencing frozen pipes and owners have been instructed to keep a straw-width stream of water running from one tap in the home.

Property owners who haven’t been told to run water shouldn’t do so as a preventative measure, city officials said, because that might increase the potential for trouble.

“We definitely don’t want to overwhelm our existing systems,” said Deepak Joshi, Winnipeg’s acting chief administrative officer.

People with frozen pipes can get clean water from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service stations. Those accessing water are asked to supply their address. City officials advise people to sanitize drinking water containers before filling them; containers will be supplied for those who don’t have their own.

Fire-paramedic stations supplying drinking water are:

• Elmwood/East Kildonan
  55 Watt Street
  640 Kimberley Avenue
• Point Douglas
  65 Ellen Street
• Fort Rouge
  150 Osborne Street
  799 Lilac Street
• Daniel McIntyre
  845 Sargent Avenue
• Mynarski
  603 Redwood Avenue
• St. James/Brooklands
  1354 Border Street
  320 Whytewold Road
• River Heights/Fort Garry
  1780 Taylor Ave
  1567 Waverley Street
• St. Vital
  1057 St Mary’s Road
• St. Boniface
  1083 Autumnwood Drive
• Transcona
  701 Day Street

The city is also allowing people with frozen pipes free access to showers at indoor pools.

Pipes are thawed in the order they are reported to 311 staff, but priority is given to schools, hospitals, daycares and residents who have special health needs.