Calgary's inconsistent weather continues to cause water main breaks
If Sangeetha Ravindran and her twin eight-year-old daughters get thirsty, they have to make a trip to the water truck outside their Parkdale home, instead of heading to the kitchen.
"Since Wednesday night, we've had no water," said Ravindran. "So Thursday, we got this water wagon. It's okay. At least we have water to drink."
Thirty homes in the northwest community have been without running water since a water main burst earlier this week.
It's one of 11 water main bursts across Calgary in the last 48 hours.
"Everything is a problem right now," Ravindran said. "Cooking, we have not had a shower, toilets are not flushing… so all the basic things."
The City of Calgary says roughly 200 homes, along with many businesses, are affected by all the water main breaks.
Officials say a cycle of freezing and then warming temperatures is to blame.
Martin Haefcke, an instructor in SAIT's pipe trades program, says Calgary's older neighbourhoods tend to suffer more in these situations.
"As people drive on streets, and the longer an area has been there, the frost gets deeper, because the ground gets more compact," Haefcke said. "So frost gets down to areas that it didn't usually... Sometimes that just happens. Sometimes it's just age. (It's) a pretty common issue to some parts that are quite old now, that wear and tear."
The city says it usually can fix water main breaks with two days, but crews are swamped right now so they may have to hire external contractors to help get the job done.
Meanwhile, the Ravindrans hope they soon won't need to make any more trips to the water truck.
"(The city) says they'll fix it within 48 hours," Sangeetha said on Friday.. "By the end of tonight, it will be 48, so we are hoping it's be done and restored."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.