A water main break was discovered between 42nd and 43rd Street on the Town of Athabasca’s East Hill Feb. 5 at about 10 a.m.
In his report to the Town of Athabasca council Feb. 5 at their regular meeting, utility operator Terry Kosinski said that the town informed the residents in a two-block radius about the break and how long it would take to repair.
“There was no property damage as a result of the water main break,” Kosinski told council. “We expect that it will be done no later than 9:30 p.m. Feb. 6.”
In an interview after the meeting, assistant chief administrative officer Rachel Ramey said workers kept the water on until 5:30 p.m. Feb. 5 so they could get whatever water they needed for the next day.
“They then turned the water off while they conducted repairs,” Ramey said. “Everything was done at 7 p.m. the next day, which was when the water was turned back on.”
Ramey said she would hope that the residents in the area were understanding about the repairs.
“The water was off for just over 24 hours,” she said. “It takes time to align the equipment, dig the hole and find and repair the broken water main. As well, we had to consider the safety of the workers.”
In an email, Ramey also said the utility department found it was caused by a beam break.
“Our infrastructure is aging and because of that breaks tend to happen,” she wrote. “Weather was not a factor, just unfortunate timing for our employees to have to be out there doing the repairs in that weather.”
— With files from Allendria Brunjes
