The cities of Regina and Moose Jaw have both seen higher-than-average water main breaks this winter. 

Pat Wilson, director of water, waste and environmental services with the City of Regina, said there were about 20 breaks in January, and 28 in February so far. 

“In the average year, we might have expected to see 15-20 in the whole month of February,” Wilson said. 

But so far, this year hasn’t been as bad as 2018, when there were 48 in February. 

Some water main breaks may have caused residents to go without water for periods of time. Wilson said on average it takes between three and six hours to fix a break. 

As of Friday afternoon, there were 35 active leaks in Regina. The city says the cold weather is to blame. 

“As the frost goes down, our pipe – a great deal of our pipe is made from concrete and it’s rigid,” Wilson said. “We will see that cracking when the extreme colt temperature runs hit.” 

When it comes to fixing the breaks and leaks, the city repairs those that affect its customers first, or those affecting main streets. 

Meanwhile in Moose Jaw, the city saw 11 water main breaks and leaks since February 15. 

“We were doing good up until then,” said Jim Puffalt, Moose Jaw’s city manager. “Februarys are – I think three, four or five is what’s usual for us.”

While Regina blames the cold for some of their breaks, where some pipes are made from concrete, Puffalt said it isn’t the case for Moose Jaw, where some are cast iron.

“The frost is already driven fairly deep, and it hasn’t warmed up enough to make the frost move, so we don’t think it was that,” Puffalt said. 

The city isn’t sure what caused the influx of breaks.

“It’s just old cast iron, sometimes it just breaks,” Puffalt said. 

Although some residents in Moose Jaw were without water for two to three days, as of Friday afternoon the city said all affected homes had water restored. But the city says while crews were turning on water Friday afternoon, another break occurred on the 700 block of 5th NW. Five homes are expected to be without water until sometime on Saturday.

As well, residents on Normandy Drive will be without water for a couple hours on Saturday morning, as additional repair work is done on the affected hydrant line.

Both Regina and Moose Jaw say all breaks and leaks will be fixed as quickly as possible.