NOTIFICATION TO RESIDENTS
There isn’t always time to inform residents of an outage. Once the break has been controlled, there will be a written or verbal notice given to residents informing them of the predicted timelines for repairing and reinstating their water.
Some breaks may cause longer outages than others.
There are two classifications of water main breaks: Category 1 and Category 2. Category 1 breaks are low risk breaks that maintain positive flow during excavation and have no evidence of contamination of the watermain. Generally, Category 1 breaks can be repaired quickly with limited implications to the customer.
Category 2 breaks pose a potential risk of contamination and are usually more severe breaks. These breaks are reported to the Ministry of Health (MOH) as well as the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s Spills Action Center (SAC). If this type of break occurs, the outage will be longer due to the increased repair and testing procedures required.
There are also a number of other factors that can impact the duration of water service outages due to a watermain break:
-> Size and material (concrete, PVC, cast iron)
-> Location (limited access, high density)
-> Traffic
Overall, the City of Peterborough’s water distribution system is built of varying pipe sizes. If a break occurs on a large diameter trunk main, it may require heavy machinery onsite, as well as larger scale cleanup and traffic control efforts. Access to the watermain can be difficult in some locations which may also lead to increased outage times.