Boil water order lifted for remaining residents impacted by Moncton watermain break

Water is pictured coming out of a tap. (Mick Favel / CTV News)

The boil water order has been lifted for the remaining residents impacted by a major watermain break in Moncton.

The City of Moncton says water is now safe to consume for the portion of Cedar Street, north of Kendra Street.

On Wednesday, the city lifted the boil water order for the areas affected by the watermain break off of Wheeler Boulevard on Monday, with the exception of Cedar Street, saying it was used to flush the system after the repair to the main transmission line was completed. Adding that area is isolated from the rest of the drinking water system.

The city says no further action is necessary for residents who have been using their tap water over the past few days, as that activity has brought fresh water into your plumbing system.

“If you have been away or not using the tap water, run your water for 15 minutes to flush your plumbing. This can be done by turning on each of the taps in your home. This will remove any water that has been sitting in your pipes and will draw fresh water into your home,” reads a news release from the city.

Watermain break

City officials say the break happened early Monday afternoon when alarms at a main pumping station detected flows almost double the normal rate for the tri-community. The problem was confirmed minutes later by a bystander who reported a major rupture along the system.

Julie Stokes, the City of Moncton’s interim director of water distribution and wastewater, says crews quickly realized the issue was larger than a routine break.

“It was a 16-inch waterline that blew up,” she said. “It became a very widespread event, and it took a while for us to get the map out to the public.”

Stokes says the break appears to have occurred at an older connection point linking two different types of pipe.

At the height of the outage, the city was inundated with calls from residents reporting lost water service. Because the system failed unevenly across neighbourhoods, geography had to be pieced together in real time based on call volume.

Stokes says the outage ultimately affected more than 10,000 customers, including five schools, several restaurants, special-care homes and daycares.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Josh Smith.

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