The people of Burns Lake made do without running water for a few hours last Thursday due to a ruptured water main.
Rick Martin, Director of the village of B.L. Public Works Department, said a water main on Third Avenue near the corner of Hwy. 16 burst at around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 11 and consequently killed water pressure throughout most of the village. He said workers with the public works department were installing a storm catch basin in close proximity to the water main and inadvertently brushed the top of the main causing a hole.
Martin said this occurred because the ruptured main's depth appears to be around four feet, while normal main depths are about six to seven feet.
He said an alarm code informed him of the burst main when it occurred and he subsequently headed to the corner of Third Avenue and Hwy. 16 to direct workers with the public works department as they attempted to fix the problem.
While in the process of repairing the burst, the corner of Third Avenue and Hwy. 16 appeared a bundle of activity at around 9 a.m. with a deluge of water and mud streaming over the roadway.
He said water pressure would return to normal for the majority of those affected once they have isolated the burst main.
However, the immediate area of the water main burst that goes from Third Avenue to Second Avenue and Center Street to Government Street would have to wait a bit longer to get their water pressure back.
We're “hoping to have everything back on by [Sept. 11],” said Martin.