Frigid weather leads to surge in frozen pipe calls around Calgary, city says

The City of Calgary has got eight times more calls about water main breaks and frozen pipes in a handful of days than it got in all of 2018.

Since last Friday, the city says it has received more than 80 calls related to frozen water services.

By comparison, there were only 10 such calls in all of 2018.

The surge in calls really began more than a month ago when the deep freeze moved in, the city says.

"Due to extreme winter temperatures, the frost level in Calgary has moved to a depth of eight feet, and as a result, the City of Calgary is experiencing an influx of calls about water main breaks and frozen services," said a city release Thursday.

The normal average frost depth is seven feet, said Chris Huston, the city's drinking water and distribution manager.

He says the increased volume in calls means response times are suffering.

"You know, I can't say enough about our crews and their dedication. They're working 15-hour days. They're working these extended hours to try to return service as fast as possible," he said.

"But it's coming in faster than we can keep up, and so it's creating a backlog."

Equipment freezes

Another challenge, Huston says, is that the extreme temperatures cause equipment to freeze up, which adds to the delays.

He says now is the time to be a good neighbour to people who can't flush their toilets or do laundry due to a lack of water.

Neil Amundson says he and his neighbours along a northwest street have been without water service since a main break on Sunday.

"The crew on site has been very good. We've been able to walk up and they're been quite open and willing to share information, provide updates, so that's been quite helpful.

"But as far as any proactive communications from the city, there's really been nothing over the last three days."