Number of properties with frozen water lines steadily increases

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This article was published 05/03/2014 (4580 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The list of properties with frozen water lines continues to grow.

City of Winnipeg officials said this afternoon that there are now 677 properties across Winnipeg without water — up from 616 properties Tuesday.

At the beginning of last week, there were just under 300 properties without water service.

Mayor Sam Katz said earlier today the water and waste department has added a fourth electrical thawing machine into service but it’s smaller than the city’s other equipment.

A civic spokeswoman said the newer machine, which arrived Feb. 28, is only being used on short, frozen water lines.

A fifth machine has been ordered and will be put into service when it arrives.

The spokeswoman said of those 677 properties with frozen water lines, 77 are now being supplied with a temporary water connection from a neighbour’s home.

Individuals reporting no water today said they were told they’d have to wait more than two weeks before thawing equipment can be dispatched to their properties: they have to wait five days for someone from the city to verify the problem is a city water line and another 12 days after that before the equipment arrives.

While several American municipalities have advised their customers to let one tap run 24 hours a day as a preventative measure, civic officials here are reserving that advice only to property owners whose water lines have frozen in the past.

 

Aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca