Saanich street turns into waterfall
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Updated: October 22, 2009 10:20 AM
A broken cast-iron water main sent water cascading down Tillicum Road Monday night.
Water rushing from the ruptured six-inch pipe poured out from where the break happened near Regina Avenue into storm drains at the bottom of the slope.
The flooding started around 10 p.m. and lasted for about an hour before crews closed valves, said Saanich engineering director Colin Doyle.
“Given the size of the main, we don’t want to just go in and start closing valves lest we remove water from areas further afield than we (needed) to,” he explained.
Having the downhill path for the water to run prevented flooding from causing damage to property.
But, while Saanich is aware of problems with aging PVC water mains, the fact this rupture happened in a cast-iron main surprised Doyle.
“It’s usually pretty good stuff,” he said, noting that cast iron pipes usually hold up well even if they’ve been buried for decades. “We’ve got some pretty old stuff in the municipality that appears to be competent. We haven’t identified the specific reason for this break.”
editor@saanichnews.com
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