Water main breaks cause problems for drivers, flood homes

Nearly a dozen water mains across the city have burst over the last 24 hours.

One of the worst-hit areas was near Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue.

Dona and John Perlus, who live on Old Orchard Grove, were supposed to leave for a vacation Wednesday, but instead watched as workers in decontamination suits waded through raw sewage and storm water in their north Toronto basement.

"It's a very trying time, and this repair is going to take about half a year to do, because we have to rebuild the whole basement," John Perlus said. "There's a lot of damage."

The city says North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke have a higher rate of water main breaks because pipes in those areas are predominately in clay soil instead of sand.

"The clay keeps more of the moisture so it corrodes more of the pipe in the winter time," said Joe Cirillo, manager of construction services for Toronto Water.

The TTC 52 Lawrence West was forced to divert around one breakage on The Westway, near Kipling Avenue because of gushing water.

Other incidents occurred on Old Orchard Grove, just south of Hwy. 401, on Eddystone Avenue near the intersection of Jane Street and Finch Avenue and on Bathurst Street.