Regina sees surge in water main breaks amid sudden warm spell

The recent warm weather has led to a spike in water main breaks in Regina.

The city said it has received calls about 49 water breaks in the first two months of the year, an increase of 31 over the same period in 2024.

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Jay Overend, the City of Regina’s water operations manager, said the increase is “quite significant.”

“The main catalyst is the big fluctuations in temperatures. Going from the -50 Cs to the warmer weather we’re seeing now, it’s definitely shifting the ground, which then shifts our infrastructure and causes it to break.”

Overend said the number of water main breaks varies every year, depending on the weather.

“Some years are slower, when we have constant temperatures without the fluctuation. But there have been previous years when we’ve seen increases like this, so we are able to handle these,” he said.

“Residents just might see more leaks out on the road that are occurring, and we’re trying to get to them as fast as we can.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, Overend said the city is currently dealing with 29 breaks, and aims to fix between six and seven each day.

When water main breaks occur, Overend said the city has an emergency services unit that will visit the site and assess the situation.

“If the water is flooding the street and there’s a possibility of damage to residents, then they’ll turn some water valves to turn the water pressure down so that the streets don’t flood as bad, but the residents will still have water,” he explained.

After the assessment, he said another team goes out and opens catch basins so that water has somewhere to drain, and then crews go in to start planning the repair. Following that, repairs are completed in order of urgency.

“We base it off of if a resident doesn’t have water – like no water at all – that’s a top priority for us,” Overend explained. “Or if it’s going to cause damage to properties, or a residential street that has care homes or a hospital is at risk, then those are also a top priority.”

Overend said high-priority breaks usually get addressed within 24 hours.

“If it’s a water connection leaking for one single household, that could take a little bit longer, depending on how many higher-priority items are above that. But when we are on site repairing the leaks, typically it takes about four to six hours to repair one leak.”

How Regina works to prevent water main breaks

Overend says the City of Regina is continually investing in its underground infrastructure.

Every year, he said, the city replaces or rehabilitates roughly 10 kilometres of water infrastructure.

“It could be a mixture of relining or open-trench replacement. It just depends on where the location is and what makes sense for that area,” he said.

Overend said doing those repairs has helped cut down on water main breaks significantly.

“Just during this season, where we’re seeing a lot more just with the weather fluctuations, we’re seeing more breaks on the older infrastructure that hasn’t been realigned or replaced.”

If you see a water break or a water leak on the roads — or anywhere else — Overend said to call the City at 306-777-7000.

Saskatoon water main breaks slightly above five-year-average

The City of Saskatoon has recorded 41 water main breaks in the first two months of this year.

That’s a slight drop from the same period in 2024, when 51 water main breaks were recorded, but ahead of the city’s five-year average for water main breaks, which sits at 37.

“Water main breaks can occur any time of year. However, more breaks occur in winter months due to fluctuations in temperature from extreme cold to above freezing and frost depths that can cause ground shifting,” the City of Saskatoon said in a statement.

“The city aims to repair water main breaks and return water service within 1-2 days, depending on the location of the break.”

–with files from 980 CJME’s Nicole Garn