Water restored to nearly 6,000 Quinte West residents

Tuesday was a day like any other at the Grind & Vine — coffee was made, and customers were served.

You’d be forgiven for not realizing the store had to be closed down a week ago due to a broken watermain.

“Actually, we didn’t know until we got in to bake everything and to make coffee that we had no water coming into the building,” says Taylor Russett, owner of Grind & Vine.

They weren’t alone. Almost 6,000 Quinte West residents awoke to the same situation.

“We had a major leak from our 20-inch high prescon pipe underneath the Trent River,” says Chris Angelo, director of Public Works for Quinte West.

According to the city, the almost 60-year-old pipe had a life expectancy of 80-100 years.

“We’re not certain what cause the premature partial failure of that pipe or the leak,” says Angelo.

“That’s part of our investigative efforts now that we have this temporary waterline in service.”

Russett says the new waterline was a welcome sight.

“I think every machine in this building runs off water for us,” he says.

“The espresso machine, coffee machine, dishwasher. Just as easy as washing your hands in the sink, we need potable water for.”

Russett says they had to shut the store down due to the water outage, which is something, he says, he’s all too familiar with.

“We’re used to closures here, I opened during the pandemic,” he says.

But with the temporary line installed, it’s back to business as usual for him and other affected residents.

“I live just a block from here, so I can have a shower, I can do my dishes, finally,” says Russett.

City officials say they are working hard to ensure that within two to three months, the whole situation will simply have been water under the bridge.