HUMBOLDT 鈥� Humboldt is seeing fewer unexpected water main breaks under the ground.
There have been only two water main breaks so far in 2021, Peter Bergquist, the city鈥檚 public works director said April 16. There were four in 2020, 10 in 2019, 13 in 2018 and 24 in 2017.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good news story in a lot of cases,鈥� Bergquist said. 鈥淚t has a lot to do with us replacing water mains. We're just having less breaks, which is great.鈥�
Fewer breaks mean fewer service interruptions and less water wasted due to leaks, the director added.
The public works department is still digging into the ground this spring.
鈥淭hroughout the year, we typically have several maintenance items that we need to tackle because they're just not working as they should,鈥� Bergquist said. 鈥淪o then we have to do a planned excavation around them when we can.鈥�
An example is the excavation on 16th Street near the Harry Ford Centre.
The big project for water main replacement this year is under 16th Street from Eighth Avenue to 11th Avenue. Tenders are closing soon for the project, which will not only see the water mains replaced but the street above repaved as well. The city budgeted $1.6 million in this year鈥檚 capital budget.
Bergquist said he thanks the residents in advance for their patience as the work is complete.
There鈥檚 still more work to be done in replacing water mains, Bergquist said, with cast iron pipes from 1913 still in the ground. The director said those 100 year thick cast iron pipes are failing at the same time as thinner cast iron pipes laid in the 1950 and 1960s, causing some challenges in terms of replacing them all.
The city has been laying PVC pipes since the 1980s and starting laying the current standard pipe in the 1990s.
Bergquist added that street sweeping will begin as soon as temperatures are favourable, starting with the busier streets before moving into the residential areas. Pothole patching will also be starting soon.
