Crews dig for leaks as taps run dry

BY CHRISTY MARSTERS

Water was in short supply Wednesday in Windsor. The reason? A water main rupture that affected a section of the downtown.

Maintenance workers from the Town of Windsor Public Works Department responded to a main pipeline rupture on Grey Street the morning of April 4. Buildings on Grey and Gerrish Streets (between Grey Street and Water Street) went without water as workers repaired the pipeline problem.

Arlis Ritchie and other maintenance workers were on the scene at approximately 6:45 a.m. and began to dig beneath the paved road to reach the leaking pipeline.

There was quite a bit of water leaking from the break, but this isn't the first time the water lines in Windsor have broken, Ritchie said. "The pipelines are over 100 years old."

Public Works had water restored to all affected areas shortly before 1 p.m., but Grey Street remained closed as workers patched the pavement.

The department of public works responds to approximately 12 pipeline leaks a year and this is just another broken waterpipe, Director of Public Works Don Beatty said. "Some of the pipes are 100 years old,” he confirmed, “and others are fairly new. The pipes are undergoing constant upgrading."

There isn't enough available funding to upgrade completely all the water lines at one time, Beatty said, "and there’s nothing to say that an old pipeline can't function properly."

The lines are fixed or repaired gradually and as needed, he said.

Sandy Riley, owner of SDR Deli and Coffee Shoppe, was affected during the time it took to correct the latest leak. “When there isn’t water, it's hard to run a business because if the washrooms don't function properly and are complained about, the stores are forced to close,” Riley said. "When there’s no water, I panic."

The town should have some sort of back-up system to continue supplying water when something like a water leak happens, she said, because it was the third time town water has been cut off from the store. "I'm not impressed."