Winnipeg, MB - The City of Winnipeg is offering free access to shower facilities at all 12 indoor pool locations as well as Fort Rouge Leisure Centre (625 Osborne Street) for those residents without water due to frozen water pipes. The pools and locations are as follows:
- Bonivital - 1215 Archibald Street
- Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex - 999 Sargent Avenue
- Eldon Ross - 1887 Pacific Avenue West
- Elmwood Kildonans - 909 Concordia Avenue
- Margaret Grant - 685 Dalhousie Drive
- North Centennial Recreation and Leisure Facility - 90 Sinclair Street
- Pan Am - 25 Poseidon Bay
- Seven Oaks - 444 Adsum Drive
- St. James Assiniboia Centennial - 644 Parkdale Street
- St. James Civic Centre - 2055 Ness Avenue
- Transcona Centennial - 1101 Wabasha Street
- Bernie Wolfe - 95 Bournais Drive
Operating hours are posted on winnipeg.ca. Citizens dealing with frozen pipes should simply identify themselves as such to pool staff at the front counter.
City of Winnipeg crews are working to restore water service as quickly as possible. Crews are dedicated to thawing frozen water pipes, working seven days a week. All available staff and equipment resources have been assigned to this effort.
This winter there has been a sudden and dramatic increase in frozen water pipes due to prolonged periods of frigid temperatures and deeper-than-usual frost penetration into the ground. This is the second coldest winter in 75 years and frost has reached a depth of approximately seven feet. The City of Winnipeg is currently experiencing the highest number of frozen water pipes to be recorded in 35 years. Frozen water pipes are also being experienced by other water utilities in Canada (e.g., Brandon, Hamilton, Guelph, Ottawa) and throughout the U.S. Midwest (e.g., Minneapolis, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee).
The City uses specialized CSA approved electrical thawing machines (DBH) equipped with a computer system to monitor the current and automatically shuts off if there is any dangerous current loss into the house. The DBH, capable of thawing large diameter and long lengths of water pipes, is a self-contained unit which is towed to the site where pipe thawing is required. Unfortunately, contractors do not have these specialized electrical machines, nor are they available for rent.
The Water and Waste Department ordered two other types of electrical thawing units to evaluate. One unit was received on February 28, 2014, and will be tested. Normally, in a typical winter, the City only requires one thawing crew to address frozen water pipes.
There are currently about 537 properties on the list for thawing service. Based on the number of properties on the waiting list, and the number of properties with complex thawing requirements, it currently takes about 12 to 14 days to thaw a frozen water pipe. It is difficult to give a timeframe for individual properties as pipe thawing can take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours to complete.
So that customers have a temporary water supply as soon as possible while waiting for thawing service, staff will install a temporary water supply by connecting a hose from the property owner’s outside tap to a neighbour's outside tap, provided that it is possible to do so (i.e., the taps aren’t frozen) and the neighbour agrees to this arrangement. Currently there are 67 hose lines in place.
Even if the weather does start to warm up over the next few weeks, it will be at least May or June before the frost is out of the ground. Those water pipes at risk of freezing will remain vulnerable over the next few months.
Residents who have no water should contact 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone or by email at 311@winnipeg.ca