Research is underway at the University of Saskatchewan on watermain breaks and preventing them.
The research comes on the heels of the water main break that caused many problems for the city of Calgary
The City of Saskatoon and the University of Saskatchewan have partnered to work on improving our water infrastructure so we can avoid a similar situation.
“The timing … highlighted that this research really did need to happen and for the city to have a strategy in place to have critical spare parts available for our larger-diameter pipes,” said Amanda Munshaw, City of Saskatoon Technical Services Engineering manager.
USask researcher, Hamed Samarghandi, explained that through talks with the city he says that the climate of Saskatoon plays a major role in water main breaks and repairs.
“I have noticed that it is going to increase the risk of break for certain parts of the network and then when the water leaks during those extremely cold days or nights, it’s going to freeze and it’s going to make the whole fixing process more difficult for everyone,” said Samarghandi.
Get breaking National news
The goal of the project is to determine which parts the city should have stocked in case of a break to allow for repairs to happen as fast as possible.
“It will save us time in the long run if we have the parts available right away,” said Munshaw.
The research is also exploring which watermains will have the greatest consequences if broken.
“Some parts might be very unlikely to break, but at the same time, they have huge consequences if a break happens. And some parts might be likely to break, but the consequences are not that great,” said Samarghandi.
He added that this research is the first of its kind.
“I’m not aware of projects just like ours happening anywhere else in North America,” said Samarghandi.
The project report is expected to be complete within the year and implementation to be in place for fall 2025.
Comments