Côte Saint-Luc begins work to fix more than one-third of city’s leaky pipes

Côte Saint-Luc, April 15, 2009 – The City of Côte Saint-Luc 2009 water infrastructure network work began last week and the city anticipates this year’s work will help reduce the number of ruptures to its underground pipes by approximately one third.

The city plans to repair pipes underneath 31 streets at a cost $5 million in 2009. The majority of the funding for this project comes from infrastructure funds from the governments of Canada and Quebec. The work involves placing a pipe sleeve inside the pipe at the weak spot. This prevents the leak and is less costly than digging up and replacing the old pipes.

“When the City of Côte Saint-Luc took over control of the network on January 1, 2006, we made water infrastructure a priority,” Mayor Anthony Housefather said. “We studied the state of the aqueduct and sewer system to determine how best to invest in our infrastructure. We expect this year’s repairs will help prevent more than one third of water main breaks. The upgrades to the network are expected to benefit our city and its residents for the next 50 years.”

Signs have been posted on city streets where the work is being done. Residents will also receive letters advising them of the work on their street.

In order to minimize disruption to the water service, Côte Saint-Luc will install a temporary above-ground water network to affected streets. Water service will be disrupted for about two hours when the new network is connected, but after that the service is safe and reliable. The above ground system is less disruptive than digging into the street—an invasive procedure that would have made it difficult or impossible for residents to drive their cars to their driveways.

“This is a huge project affecting a lot of residents,” said Councillor Mitchell Brownstein, the council member responsible for public works. “We are minimizing the inconvenience to residents, however, by communicating with them in advance, using a temporary above-ground water network during the work to avoid breaking street surface, and by avoiding even temporary water stoppages on religious holidays when residents need water to prepare meals.”

Water in the temporary above-ground network undergoes a series of tests regularly to ensure it surpasses all safety norms.

Repairs will start on the following streets: Alpine Ave. (between Fleet Rd. and Merton Rd.), Cavendish Blvd. (south of Kildare Rd.), Parkhaven Ave. (between Kildare Rd. and Trinity Ave.), Pinedale Ave. (between Baily Rd. and Fleet Rd.), and Randall Ave. (between Baily Rd. and Fleet Rd.). Repairs under the other streets will follow.

Côte Saint-Luc has spent or set aside more than $11 million for repairs, maintenance and improvements to our water infrastructure network from 2006 to 2009.