Close to $2.3M spent to repair water main breaks in Hamilton last year

A Hamilton public works staff report reveals the city fixed 277 water main breaks across the city in 2022 with most being the result of ground movement.

City staff say the bulk of Hamilton’s water main breaks in 2022 were the result of ground movement accounting for 60 per cent of 277 detected issues.

The annual water main break report revealed the cost to taxpayers for those fixes was just under $2.3 million with about 33 per cent of the breaks attributed to corrosion and about three per cent caused by a contractor.

On average, from 2012 to 2022, the city typically endures about 300 water main breaks per year.

Shayne McCauley, Hamilton’s director of water and wastewater, revealed to councillors on Monday the breaks often involve thaw and frost resulting in the heaving of soil.

“As moisture penetrates, it freezes, which displaces the soil, which can also affect our pipes and put extra pressure on them,” McCauley explained.

He says about two-thirds of all the main breaks last year were generally in the older part of the city, where infrastructure is aging.

“Looking at Ward 1, specifically, the average age of water mains…  is 77 years versus the city as a whole, averaging about 41 years,” McCauley said.

Since 2019, public works has had a proactive leak detection program in an effort to mitigate drinking water losses through the system that reached a high in 2018 of about 30 per cent.