Mayor Tory, City Manager Pennachetti and Toronto Water General Manager Lou Di Gironimo met on an urgent basis Wednesday morning to discuss the 300 or so properties where there is “no water” in the City. The mayor acknowledged the need to fix the lack of water as quickly as possible. “Toronto Water crews are working as hard as they can to respond to the large volume of calls. however, we need more resources to help customers understand what we are dealing with, and when staff will be on site to investigate each situation.” It appears the city has created a Water SWAT Team that will provide what is called customized care to these residents. This may involve creating a temporary water service connection to a neighbour’s property, which is called a highline. If a highline cannot be established, either for mechanical reasons or if the neighbour would prefer not to install a temporary connection, the property will be put on the priority list to have the outside water service thawed. Since the cold weather first hit on February 14, the City of Toronto has received close to 2,000 “no water” calls due to frozen pipes. More than 1,200 of these calls were received within the first three days. In the majority of cases, investigations have found that the pipes within the dwelling are frozen. The problem falls to the homeowner. The City recommends the use of a blow dry to thaw frozen pipes but in the end, residents may require a plumber. Full release with advice on getting information
