Recent warm weather has been keeping Cranbrook’s Public Works crews on their feet as they fix leaking water lines throughout the community.
The city’s utility manager Jason Perrault said workers have fixed 10 leaks in the seven days between Jan 12 and 20.
“We have an outstanding care who’s been doing non-stop work and going a great job,” said Perrault.
Even with crews active throughout the city, the amount of leaks they’ve seen so far in January is normal with the weather conditions.
“It’s nothing new to us. It’s the sub-zero temperatures that we sew before Christmas, followed by the above zero temperatures has caused the frost in the ground to move a little bit,” said Perrault. “With our older infrastructure, it’s finding the weak points in the system.”
That said, Perrault notes that the leaks have been more concentrated in a short time span this year.
Each job is different, but Cranbrook’s crews can typically get the job done quickly.
“We find different situations, with shallow utilities like gas lines and electrical lines or it’s a little bit deeper,” said Perrault. “On average we take about a full day to complete a complete excavation. That’s from knocking on doors right to putting in back-fill.”
This can be done with a team of about six people.
Perrault said residents have been doing their part.
“We want to thank everybody for their patients and appreciate the public following all the road signs and detour areas to provide our workers with a safe area,” said Perrault.