Watermain break that forced some Glace Bay businesses to close has been repaired

A watermain break that burst early on Wednesday forcing businesses to close in Glace Bay, N.S. has been repaired.

A watermain break that affected homes and businesses in the Reserve Street area of Glace Bay, N.S., Wednesday has been repaired.

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality said Phalen’s Road to Official Row was affected by the watermain break, located near the intersection of Gannon Street.

The watermain break was repaired around 3 p.m. CBRM says residents may have to run their taps for a few minutes to clear up the water.

“Crews are backfilling the excavation, compacting and cleaning up the roadway and traffic should be restored by 4:00 p.m.,” a release from CBRM said.

Several businesses in the area were forced to close for the day due to the watermain break.

“We shampoo every customer, and it stops you dead,” said Vallie Scattolon, who owns a hair salon.

She says some customers were able to go to their location in Dominion, N.S., but the Glace Bay salon lost some of the day’s business.

“They’ll talk to the customers and they’ll make arrangements for new appointments, but when you lose that time it’s hard to make it up again,” said Scattolon.

There were delays along the main road as traffic was reduced to one lane while CBRM Water Utility crews located the break and worked to make repairs.

“Water for residents is going to be low today, non-existent actually,” said CBRM Coun. Dave MacKeigan.

He said some residents expressed concerns about being without running water on such a hot summer day.

Some places like grocery stores were able to stay open, but others expect to return to business-as-usual Thursday.

The cause of the watermain break is under investigation.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.

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