Spike in watermain breaks is seasonal, not unusual: Halifax Water

Halifax Water crews have responded to nearly a dozen watermain breaks within the last week.

Halifax Water crews have responded to nearly a dozen emergency watermain repairs over the past week, including six in the Halifax area, two others were dealt with in the Dartmouth area and Lower Sackville.

While the number may seem high, the utility says it’s typical for this time of year, as officials point to the winter freeze-and-thaw cycles as a major factor.

“It’s more of an average year, this is typical,” said Jeff Myrick, Halifax Water’s senior communications manager.

Myrick says the cold weather and the frost impact the soil and the pipes in the ground, especially the cast iron pipes and ductile pipes.

The shifting ground puts extra stress on aging infrastructure – in the Halifax and Dartmouth urban core there are pipes which are more than 50, and in some cases over 100, years old.

“Once the frost starts getting into the ground, the number of watermain breaks does increase,” said Myrick. “Our average is about 220 breaks a year and that’s going back to 2017-2018 fiscal year, and right now we’re on schedule to match that by the end of the fiscal year.”

Halifax Water estimates the average emergency watermain break costs $5,500. The utility says part of this year’s 17.6 per cent rate increase will go toward maintaining and replacing aging infrastructure.

Halifax Water is replacing old cast iron pipe with heavier PVC plastic piping which Myrick says is installed much differently than previous installation standards.

“Back then it was cast iron pipe. You just, buried it you left it there until it started to have signs of weakness or need replacement,” said Myrick. “But unfortunately, sometimes that means it breaks before it can be replaced.”

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page