Last week's water main break made it necessary to shut off the village water system for about 45 minutes. Many of you have asked me why Public Works had to shut down th whole system and why there was no warning.
When tending to a water main break, the usual way is to isolate that one line by shutting valves off at either end. This was attempted but the valves were badly frozen and could not be shut down. After hours of frustrating work trying to move the valves, the decision was made to shut down the entire system and make the repairs as quickly as possible. This was an eleventh hour decision so there was no time to warn anyone.
In the future, if this situation arises again, the heavy or critical water users (restaurants, the medical centre, and hair salons, etc.) will be given a brief warning so they may stockpile a small amount of water before it is shut down. In the meantime Public Works will endeavor to thaw the valves so the isolation techniques can be used if we have another water main break. Thank you again, everyone, for your patience.
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