WINNIPEG – The city won’t charge homeowners a fee for thawing water lines on their property, Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz said Monday.
Katz said it was taking too much time for crews to determine the exact location of the frozen pipes, so to speed up the process the city will simply foot the bill in every case.
The offer is retroactive only to mid-last week, however, so homeowners who paid for having pipes thawed before that won’t get their money back.
“The realities are in any situation that happens in many occasions where by things change. This is just the way it is,” Katz said.
The list of properties waiting for thawing crews grew even longer Monday: officials say 927 city homes and businesses have frozen pipes and need help thawing them.
Officials gave the latest numbers Monday:
since November 2013 the city has received 1,566 reports of frozen water lines
- 638 properties have had their water service restored
- 927 remain on a waiting list to have pipes thawed
- 217 have had temporary water lines hooked up to a neighbouring property
- 710 Winnipeg homes are currently without running water
Officials said Monday that the list of properties with frozen pipes grew over the weekend likely because businesses at risk that were closed Saturday and Sunday didn’t have water running.
The city has identified close to 5,000 other properties at risk of frozen pipes. The unusually cold winter has caused frost to penetrate deeper in the ground than usual. It’s a problem that will linger for some time, despite the arrival this week of spring-like temperatures.
“Don’t be fooled by the warmer temperatures,” said city emergency co-ordinator Randy Hull. Frost could remain in the ground as late as June, Hull said.
Comments