Water main breaks have caused headaches for commuters with three in the last 10 days, but there have been fewer this year so far than January 2024.
Epcor maintains around 4,300 kilometres of water mains throughout Edmonton
On Jan. 14, a water main break near 109 Street and 111 Avenue caused trouble for commuters when it happened that morning.
The work to fix the break was done by the next day, but the line had to be flushed to ensure no mud or debris remained in it. Crews also had to do repairs on the road, with everything reopening on Monday.
Breaks happen for a variety of reasons, weather and shifting temperatures are the leading causes, according to Epcor.
“Usually there will be something, maybe a weaker spot in our line, that then gets exposed because of maybe shifting ground,” said Marta Buryn, the director of water distribution and transmission for Epcor.
On Wednesday, a water main break happened at 99 Street between 60 Avenue and 62 Avenue.
On Thursday, another break happened at 97 Street and 132 Avenue, with northbound lanes being reduced. The cause of this break is still being investigated, according to Buryn.
When Edmonton began building its water distribution system in 1903, cast iron was the material of choice for the pipes. In the 1970s and 1980s, pipes started to be replaced and built with PVC, in part due to corrosion causing numerous breaks during and before that time.
Around 540 kilometres (12.5 per cent) of the total infrastructure is cast iron. Breaks have decreased by more than 80 per cent since the replacing of the cast iron lines began.
The 99 Street water main is a cast iron line while the 97 Street line is a steel main, according to Buryn.
Paving is being done on 99 Street Friday, with the work potentially finishing in the afternoon.
On 97 Street and 132 Avenue, extra crews are being brought in and Buryn said the hope is to have the issue fully resolved by next week.
“We actually have had less breaks this January than last January, which sometimes depends where the breaks are and how much people actually notice them,” Buryn said.
“If they’re on a main road and they’re impacting traffic, they impact a lot more people than something that maybe would be in a back alley.”
Signs of a water main break include:
- water coming up from the ground;
- a pool of water on the road, not near a drain or catch basin; and
- steam coming off the water in the winter.
Epcor has a water outage map online and issues can be reported at 780-412-4500.
