Major warm-up could impact infrastructure in Lethbridge

The City of Lethbridge says crews are monitoring water infrastructure as temperatures start to warm up. Karsen Marczuk reports.

After weeks of extreme cold, warmer temperatures are on their way, and they’ll be arriving quickly.

Temperatures in Lethbridge will see a roughly 20-degree shift from Wednesday to Thursday.

The rapid warm-up will likely have an impact on infrastructure throughout the city.

“We had two water main breaks reported today,” said Jason Drenth, general manager of water and wastewater with the City of Lethbridge.

“That’s just due to the extreme cold weather that we’ve had over the past week or two weeks or so.”

Crews are repairing one break along 23rd Street near 8A Avenue North, while another break is being fixed at the intersection of 15th Street and 13th Avenue South.

On average, the city repairs between 50 and 100 water main breaks every year.

“There is snow on the ground, so with the rapid temperature rise, we do see melting, and for most parts of the city, we have a stormwater collection system, so it rapidly melts, gets into the stormwater system and is taken away,” Drenth said.

“Where we may see problems is where those catch basins are plugged with debris or ice dammed.”

The temperature swing will have an impact on more than just city roads, according to heating and plumbing experts.

The quick warm-up can cause problems for windows, pipes, furnaces and foundations of homes.

“The bathroom that you never go into in the basement, go see what’s going on in there,” said Bill Purcell, owner of Prospect Plumbing and Heating.

“Is it cold in the basement? Is it cold on the walls? Check. You know, it’s very simple to avoid a lot of problems just by being aware of your house.”

It’s recommended to pay attention to where water pools in your yard during the early spring melt.

With furnaces working overtime in this cold snap, Purcell says it’s important to keep an eye on air flow and to remove any ice build-up, along with regular filter changes to keep them running smoothly.

“As we start increasing the temperature, your condensation levels out of your highly efficient furnaces increase, so that allows bigger icicles or bigger snow blockages,” Purcell said.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says temperatures in Lethbridge are forecasted to reach upward of 12 C by early next week.

Drenth says if temperatures keep rising, the risk for water main breaks will only increase.

“As we come into March and April, where the frost comes out, that’s where we see a lot of our problems as the ground starts shifting a little bit, but as far as numbers, we’re anticipating a normal year,” he said.

Drenth says anyone who comes across a broken water main or has pooling water on their street should call 311.