Contractor hit large water main, City of Saskatoon working to fix

originally posted on June 27, 2016

A water main break has caused the City of Saskatoon to issue a wide-sweeping precautionary boil water advisory.

Areas east of Central Avenue and north of College Drive are under the advisory until further notice.

The affected neighbourhoods include:

• Forest Grove
• Erindale
• Arbor Creek
• University Heights Suburban Centre
• Willowgrove (east of McOrmond Drive)
• Evergreen

According to Trent Schmidt, acting director of public works with the City of Saskatoon, the problems started when a contractor hit a 42-inch water main in a private development. While the city quickly isolated the area and began repairs, it’s policy to put a ban in place until the city can check out the situation.

“Pressure has been restored so water should be returning to all these areas and if there’s a block or two that is affected, a water trailer will be delivered to those addresses,” said Schmidt.

The city is running computer models of the system right now. Any areas that weren’t seriously de-pressurized can return to normal behaviour.

Schmidt said it will take about 48 to 72 hours for the bacteriological results of the water main break to come. But until then, residents in the affected areas are asked to boil any drinking water for three minutes. People can still use the shower without any issues.

West side neighbourhoods were not affected.