CALGARY - A massive sinkhole caused by a water main break in northwest Calgary has disrupted 20 businesses in the community of Bowness, leaving some without running water and others dealing with flooding — while renewing concerns about the aging infrastructure beneath the city. For Paul Sipos, owner of The Place restaurant, the disruption has meant spoiled food, a closed restaurant and thousands of dollars in lost business. “It will probably cost me $9,000 in revenue,” Sipos said, adding that water main breaks have become all too familiar during his years operating the restaurant. “It’s maybe the fifth one this year and probably the 15th one in 16 years at the restaurant,” he said. The latest break occurred around 10 a.m. Saturday on a 250-millimetre water distribution main, according to the City of Calgary. Crews initially completed what the city described as a minor repair Sunday. However, when water pressure was restored, a second leak developed near the original repair location. Other businesses are dealing with damage caused by the water. Ross Sisson, owner of Absolute Audio Video, said his basement flooded following the break. “I had six inches of water ... all through my slab in the basement,” Sisson said. The latest break is raising questions about the state of Calgary’s water infrastructure, particularly after two catastrophic failures involving the Bearspaw South feeder main. The critical feeder main supplies drinking water to roughly 60 per cent of Calgary and surrounding communities. Its failures have led to extensive repair and replacement work and heightened scrutiny of the city’s underground infrastructure. Calgary Coun. Kim Tyers said repeated breaks cannot become a new normal. “I don’t think it’s acceptable,” Tyers said. “We should really, really focus on making sure that residents aren’t getting used to water main breaks.” Tyers added that aging infrastructure requires greater investment and longer-term solutions rather than repeatedly responding to failures after they happen. In a statement to CTV News, the City said water main breaks can occur in any large municipal system and that it “maintains more than 5,400 kilometres of underground water infrastructure and has one of the lowest average rates of watermain breaks per 100 kilometres among major Canadian cities.” Tyers said Calgary’s experience should serve as a warning to other municipalities also grappling with aging infrastructure. “They need to be paying attention to what our city is going through, what our city is doing,” she said. “It’s probably going to happen to them next.” For Sipos, repeated disruptions have left him questioning the reliability of the infrastructure serving his business. “I really have no confidence in the water main infrastructure,” he said. The city said it expects the repairs to be completed and water service fully restored by the end of the day.
