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
Police in Texas waited 48 minutes in school before pursuing shooter
Students trapped inside a classroom with a gunman repeatedly called 911 during this week's attack on a Texas elementary school, including one who pleaded, 'Please send the police now,' as nearly 20 officers waited in the hallway for more than 45 minutes, authorities said Friday.

'I don't deserve this': Amber Heard responds to online hate
As Johnny Depp's high-profile libel lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard wound down, Heard took her final opportunity on the stand to comment on the hate and backlash she’s endured online during the trial.
Three Canadian cities rank among the world's best for work-life balance
A new report says Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto rank among the top 20 cities around the world when it comes to work-life balance.
New federal firearms bill will be introduced on Monday: Lametti
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will table new firearms legislation on Monday, according to his colleague Justice Minister David Lametti. In an interview with CTV's Question Period that will air on Sunday, Lametti pointed to the advance notice given to the House of Commons, and confirmed the plan is to see the new bill unveiled shortly after MPs return to the Commons on May 30.
She smeared blood on herself and played dead: 11-year-old reveals chilling details of the massacre
An 11-year-old survivor of the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, feared the gunman would come back for her so she smeared herself in her friend's blood and played dead.
102-year-old veteran wins campaign for Dutch citizenship after a 70-year wait
For 70 years, Andre Hissink has held a grudge against the Dutch government, but this week, the 102-year-old Second World War veteran’s persistence paid off – the Dutch king granted his wish for a rare dual citizenship.
Canada raids emergency stockpile to send medical equipment to Ukraine
Canada has tapped into its own strategic stockpile of emergency medical supplies -- stored for a national emergency -- to help Ukraine. It has donated over 375,000 items of medical equipment and medicines from Canada's strategic stockpile since the invasion by Russia began.
NEW | 'Died of a broken heart': Can it really happen?
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, more commonly known as 'broken heart syndrome' or stress-induced cardiomyopathy, is an actual medical condition triggered by severe emotional or physical stress and is different from a heart attack.
Jury deliberations begin in Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial
After a six-week trial in which Johnny Depp and Amber Heard tore into each other over the nasty details of their short marriage, both sides told a jury the exact same thing Friday -- they want their lives back.