Montreal water main breaks: Slow response, poor planning aggravate problems

Last October, a monstrousbreak on a 1.2-metre (48-inch) pipe in the St-Michel districton the corner of Pie-IX BoulevardatVilleray Street flooded seven city blocks.

CBC'sLeah Hendrylooked into why it took took crews five hours to shut the water off, and how Montreal's response timeto water main breaks stacks up compared to other cities.

Here's a breakdown of thatfour-part series.

Timeline:Why a major water main break on Pie-IX took 5 hours to fix

When a 48-inch water main broke at the corner of Pie-IX Boulevard and Villeray Street lastOct.30, more than 600 buildings were flooded and about 250 people were forced out of their homes.

• Tap here for atimeline ofhow the morning unfolded

At 4:52 a.m., emergency operators received a911 call about water gushing out of a hole. The valves weren't completely shut off until10 a.m. that day.

Pie-IX water main break exposes holes in emergency response plan

Pie-IX water main break reveals problems with city planning

9 years ago

Duration 0:33

A perfect storm of equipment deficiency and expertise gap left the neighbourhood underwater last October.

CBC Montreal's investigative teamdiscoveredthat borough crews weren't equipped to repair the break and city water crews were only working on-call, because it was a Friday.

• Tap here for more on howa lack of equipment and an expertise gap left a neighbourhood underwater

The whole debacle has left the city of Montreal with209 claims for flood damage,about a third of all water damage claims in 2015. So far26 of them havesettled for a total of $86,240. The majority of claims, 179,are still active.

Pie-IX water main break: Critics slam Montreal for slow response time

RAW: Plateau driver tries to escape slush

10 years ago

Duration 1:05

A water main break in the Plateau had some residents struggling to free themselves of the ice and slush.

Projet MontralLeader Luc Ferrandez says thedelay in the Pie-IX Boulevard incident isn't an isolated case.

• Tap here for more on what critics hadto say about the city's slow responsetime

He pointstoanother water main break inthe Plateau Mont-Royal boroughthatcovered a neighbourhood in ice onJanuary 2015.

How Montreal's response to water main breaks stacks up

CBC Montreal's investigative team learnedthat, compared with Toronto, Ottawa and Laval, Montreal has additional layers of bureaucracy that can lead to additional hours of flooding and, ultimately, moredamage.

• Tap here for more on how Montreal's water main break response compares toother cities

It's also the only city of the four that doesn't staff a specialized crew to turn off the valves and repair larger pipes on Fridays.

On the island of Montreal, only seven of the 19 boroughs have both the equipment and training to close those valves.