Finally warm temperatures are back in the Queen City.
While there’s plenty to enjoy there are some things residents should keep an eye on: among them, the potential for underground gas leaks.
“We are seeing a slight increase in underground leaks, typical to what we would see in the spring time,” SaskEnergy senior communications officer Casey MacLeod explained. “We’re just seeing it a little earlier when we’re having a thaw like we are right now.”
SaskEnergy says the leaks are relatively minor, but they want to catch them before they develop into something bigger.
“We are being proactive and we do have leak surveys going on in communities around the province year-round,” MacLeod continued. “We are increasing that right now just to stay ahead of things. We’re just asking people to be proactive.”
The leaks are most common in back alleys and areas with heavy vehicle traffic and relatively little snow cover on the ground.
That’s the not the only issue people should be aware of. The thaw could lead to melting snow and ice, something that when combined with frozen or ineffective eavestroughs can have long-term effects on homes.
“The main thing is you’re going to have a lot of water going to your foundation,” Devin Chobanik, the sales and operations manager at Everflow Eaves and Exteriors cautioned.
“As soon as you have water going to your foundation it’s going to sit there, it’s going to find ways to get into the dirt, and between the freeze/thaw that we are going through, that will start to affect cracking as well as finding ways to get into your home.”
Chobanik advised people to make sure their eavestroughs are clear, and that their downpipes are dispersing water away from the house.
The one area we don’t have to worry about? Sand.
Despite using 85 tonnes of sand in just three days the city says consumption is actually down compared to last winter.
As a result, they don’t expect the latest thaw to have any impact on the city’s sewer system.
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