Fewer water main breaks expected this winter, aging pipes still a problem

The City of Prince Albert is expecting fewer water main breaks this year compared to last, owing to the milder winter. However, the problem of aging pipes is a growing one.

Operations manager Alain Trudel said the number of water main breaks won’t be as significant as they were last year. At one point in 2014, the City had to deal with 95 breaks at one time. 

Trudel said the City will likely get some water main breaks. This week, a broken water main, combined with a leaking valve, led to an unplanned road repair and lane restrictions at the intersection of 15th Street East and Sixth Avenue East.

“That warmer spell we’ve had this winter is going to be a godsend,” he said.

While one source of the water main break problems will be less of a factor this winter, another is a longer-term issue.

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But the City still has to contend with the failures stemming from the age of the pipes. In some of the older areas of the city, the pipes are more than 100 years old.

“It’ll only get worse probably, before it gets better,” said capital projects manager Wes Hicks.

The old pipes are cast iron, and they were installed between 1900 and 1955. The City estimates that $71 million worth of water mains need to be replaced. Hicks said these pipes have exceeded their life expectancy.

“If you recall all the water main breaks that we had last winter, nearly every single one of them was related to the cast iron pipes, they were always in the older neighbourhoods,” Hicks said.

He said the City started to replace the pipes a few years ago, and it has increased the funding over the last couple of years and the public works department hopes to have the funding increased this year as well.

One of the major pipe replacement projects planned for this year will take place this summer. The 115-year-old pipes under Second Avenue West from 15th Street West to the Diefenbaker Bridge will be replaced later this year.

The City is looking to replace the “worst blocks” of water mains in the city. Hicks said it is expensive to replace water mains in existing neighbourhoods because the City still has to maintain services to residents, as well as replace the surface work – asphalt, curbs, new gutters and sidewalk. The City also replaces the lead service connections, as well.

The City has compiled a list of the 25 worst blocks, but Hicks said it is fluid and could change. If a particular block experiences a number of water main breaks during the winter, it’ll rise on the list.

“The plan here is to be proactive, and attack the streets that had the most breaks.”

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames