With the mercury finally rising above the freezing mark this week, the last problem you’d expect to see is a frozen water line. But that is exactly what’s happening.
Raymond Roy, superintendent of Public Works (Operations), said this is a particularly bad year if you’re a water line.
“The extended cold [this winter] has driven the frost down around the water lines,” he noted Friday.
Typically, water lines—both main ones and services that go into homes and businesses—are positioned below the frost line to keep the water flowing all year long.
But on occasion, the frost can be driven deeper due to cold temperatures or lack of snow cover—which we’ve seen a both of this winter.
“It can’t get any worse,” Roy said of the problem. “The damage has been done.”
He explained once the frost gets down around the water lines, there is very little that can be done. Even the milder weather forecast for the coming days won’t have a huge impact.
The only solution is to wait for the normal thawing cycle to run its course.
And we’re not alone. Roy said many communities in Northwestern Ontario are seeing the same problem.
“This isn’t normal,” he said, adding the last time frozen water lines were this big of a problem was in 1994.
“Normally, we average a few each year,” he added. “This year we’re into the hundreds. That’s uncommon.
“We had 10 yesterday and already have 11 scheduled for today,” Roy said. “Some people have been without water for a couple of days. We get there as quick as possible.”
Once on the scene, there are a few options Public Works crews can take to resolve the situation and return service to the customer.
“We have a thawing machine,” Roy said. “It runs a current through the water service to heat it up.”
The pipe and hydrant thawing machine is like a large battery charger. It runs a current between 300 and 500 amps into the service through a booster cable-like setup.
The crew will run the current through the service between the property and the main water line. If the problem isn’t resolved, they move the current inside to the copper hook-up in the building.
“If we get a good connection, it can be less than an hour,” he said.
But Roy noted sometimes it is difficult to get a good connection because of items in the circuit that aren’t good conductors, like rubber gaskets or plastic pipes, and so other measures must be taken.
Another machine—called a pulsator—shoots hot water into the line itself in forceful pulses which slowly melts the frozen water.
“It’s really time-consuming,” said Roy. “If that doesn’t work, our last resort is digging them up.”
Roy said anyone who is having problems with frozen water lines can call 274-9893 during regular hours and 274-9841 after hours.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
