How do you repair watermain breaks?
Once we receive notice of a watermain break we:
- Dispatch a crew to the location
- Control the leak to reduce the risk to public safety, and private and public property. We do this by finding and closing valves
- Contact other utilities (JULIE locate) to make sure that we can dig without damaging other services or endangering staff or the public
- Pinpoint the location of the leak using a leak detection service
- Dig down to the watermain to confirm the cause of the leak
- Repair the watermain. Depending on the type of break, we may apply a repair clamp or replace a length of pipe
- Open the valves to turn the water back on, flush the watermain and sample water quality. If necessary, a boil order may be issued to which a notice will be delivered door to door informing residents.
- Backfill the area to temporarily restore the excavated area
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