Water main break quickly repaired

KAMLOOPS – Typically water main breaks in Kamloops occur with extreme cold temperatures, but this week crews were called out to repair one at a major intersection during record-breaking high temperatures.

Around 4 p.m. Wednesday a water main break at the on-ramp to the Overlanders Bridge from West Victoria Street and Mission Flats had traffic rerouted during rush hour.

Utility Services Supervisor Greg Cave says crews were able to avoid completely closing the road until most of the traffic had cleared, and by midnight the repairs were done.

“The impact was about as good as it could be,” Cave says, noting there was no flooding to local businesses and the road was reopened by about 2 a.m. “You can barely tell we were there now.”

Kamloops averages about 15 water main breaks a year, with most coming during cold snaps. During our recent cold snap Cave says the city averaged about one or two every day, though most are just a pinhole and are repaired within 24 hours.

With temperatures expected to remain near normal over the next week Cave says they are not expecting an abundance of water main breaks to occur, but asks if anyone sees anything unusual they call the public works department.

While the city has recently started employing leak detection systems, staff mostly rely on the public letting them know when they see a leak.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infonews.ca or call 250-819-3723.  To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.