Frozen, burst water mains in the forecast for Sudbury this winter again

As construction workers in Sudbury wrap up repairs to water mains damaged and broken by last winter's harsh conditions city roads engineers say more busted pipes could be inthe forecast.

Last winter's frigid temperatures caused someof Sudbury's aging pipes to freeze and burst, leaving hundreds of people in the city without running water.

TeresaCuomo'sfamily and neighbours on Ash Street spent several weeks lugging buckets of water into their homes.

"The pipes hadn't been changed in this entire area for almost ninety years,"Cuomosaid. "I got a good look at the pipes. They were in quite the condition. I wouldn't want to be drinking water out of it, that's for sure. Completely corroded, rusty."

The construction site on Ash Street is one of several water main projects in the city set to wrap up in the couple of weeks.

More frozen pipes in the forecast

RoadsengineerDave Kalviainensaidthe city will be dealing with the impacts of last winter's water main breaks for the next several years.

"There was so many water main breaks and emergency repairs, there's actually a specific contract to go out there and patch the roads just where those emergency digs were made to fix water mains," he said. "That's been going on all year, and still ongoing."

Kalviainen said if Sudbury gets another cold winter, more of the city's old pipes will likely break.

"There's also larger scale projects that have come out of these water main breaks, that have identified entire sections of water main that need to be replaced within the next five years. That will spur into more capital projects on a larger scale."

Cuomo said the city should be replacing agingpipes before they burst.

"I'm thinking about other places. If they're in the same condition, it's going to be really frustrating for a lot of people. They're going to have to go what we went through."

As for Cuomo, she said people shouldbe prepared just in case.

"Always have water in the house, at least for two weeks."