Dozens of Calgarians have been without water for days after water main breaks cut off their supply, and they’re now being forced to take various measures to find alternatives for things like showers and drinking water.
More than 70 homes in the community of Midnapore have been without water since Friday, and despite crews working around the clock to solve the issue, the homeowners are now being given vouchers so they can shower at city-run facilities like pools.
While some residents told Global News on Tuesday that they understand these situations can come up, especially at this time of year, the length of time they’ve gone without water or a solution is growing increasingly bothersome.
“It took them two days to dig the hole out, they turned the water on, found that it wasn’t leaking there, so they filled it all back in again, now they’re going to dig a different hole,” resident Jeff Hulburd said.
“I assume it started to leak over there and they’ve moved the little toothpick over and they’ll start hacking away at it for another three days,” said resident Richard Fordham.
Workers have dug up a 20- to 25-foot-long stretch of the roadway in hopes of finding the leak, but officials said about eight feet of frost is hindering the efforts of finding exactly where the break is.
“In the winter, it can be harder to pinpoint where the problem is because of the frost, it can cause water to come up in areas where the leak is not located,” the city said in an emailed statement.
The city said crews are working 24/7 to solve a number of water main issues around the city, adding because of the extreme cold Calgary has experienced in recent weeks, crews are responding to an influx of water main breaks and frozen services.
“Given the increasing call volume, we are responding to frozen services on a priority basis,” the city said. “We are doing our best to mitigate this unusual spike and return service back to Calgarians.”