Why are there more watermain breaks in the winter?

Do you ever wonder how you get your water supply? It’s from watermains, which are underground pipes that are a part of the City-owned local water distribution system and deliver safe and clean drinking water to Vaughan residents and businesses. But sometimes – most commonly in the winter – watermains break.

The City of Vaughan is providing all you need to know about watermain breaks, what to expect if one occurs and what the team is doing to prevent them.

Why watermains break

Watermain breaks are more common in the winter months. Low temperatures can cause soil to freeze and expand, resulting in frost and added pressure on the pipes, causing them to break. Other causes include:

• corrosion over time on the outside surface of pipes, weakening them.
• small leaks gradually wearing away the soil around watermains, potentially causing them to collapse.
• older watermains being more susceptible to breaks.

What to do if you see a watermain break

If you see water ponding or flooding on roads or sidewalks that is unlikely to be caused by wet weather, seasonal thawing, blocked catch basins or sprinklers, it may be due to a watermain break. Please contact the City immediately by phone at 905-832-2281 and provide the exact location and any other details you know when reporting.

What the City is doing to prevent watermain breaks

The City continues to use innovative initiatives to help prevent watermain breaks – such as the Smart Hydrant pilot project. Smart Hydrants have real-time system monitoring, data storage and analytics to identify potential leaks within pipes and their locations. They send alerts to operations staff for follow-up actions in the field. Ultimately, this technology allows for proactive approaches to address watermain breaks in areas near Smart Hydrants and has helped determine why citizens may have a drop in water pressure.

There are many other benefits of Smart Hydrants:

• Lower operating costs – fewer watermain breaks lead to a reduction in costly emergency repairs.
• Less water loss – fewer watermain breaks and leaks lead to less water loss.
• Improvement in water services – fewer watermain breaks lead to fewer emergency shutdowns and minimize interruptions to water services.

The City is currently looking to expand Smart Hydrants to additional locations.

Another way the City helps prevent watermain breaks is through the Watermain Replacement Program. Through this program, City staff oversee the replacement of existing iron watermains with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ones. Ageing iron watermains require excessive maintenance and are prone to failures due to corrosion, so PVC watermains improve overall performance and reduce breaks and related disruptions.

City staff also perform routine and proactive maintenance on watermains to improve pressure and flow. This work ensures the City’s continued commitment to superior service delivery and keeps the water infrastructure strong to extend its lifespan.

To learn more about the City’s water services, visit vaughan.ca/water.

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