Family spends 5 weeks running water from neighbour's tap due to frozen city pipe

A southwest Calgary couple, who have been without their own water supply for five weeks, say they're fed up with a lack of communication from the city.

Julie Barnes and her husband are tired of limiting their laundry, coordinating showers with their neighbours and spending weekends at home, hoping that city crews might drop by to thaw out their frozen water line.

"One lady that I talked to informed me that it could be 'til the end of May that we'll be under this situation," Barnes said. "I was kind of horrified when she said that, and very upset."

The couple woke up on March 5 — at the end of a deep freeze that gripped the city for more than a month — to find their home in Wildwood had no running water. The city water line that runs underground into their home was frozen.

'Almost a trickle'

They called 311 to report the problem. Barnes says the city dropped off drinking water jugs and ones for flushing the toilet.

Then they sent a plumber to install a ball valve to help a crew to steam their frozen water line. Crews later tapped into the neighbour's outside water faucet when the issue persisted.

Now they have running water they can drink but the pressure is low.

"If our neighbours are showering at the same time, it's almost a trickle but we can function," Barnes said.

The City of Calgary has been bombarded with requests to fix water lines frozen in the winter's frigid temperatures. For two weeks in February, overnight lows stayed below –20 C.

The city says the frost is hard to beat, despite rising temperatures. Even now, the frost reaches nearly 2.5 metres into the ground.

Officials have not said how many Calgarians have been affected by frozen city water lines. 

It's the lack of answers that's causing the most stress, Barnes said. It's been five weeks and she's struggled to get answers from the city.

"We want to know how long this is going to go on for," Barnes said. "If they can tell us it's going to be another month, maybe we could cope with that."

Repair confusion

On Tuesday, the city told CBC News water to the home had been restored last week — but Barnes said that's impossible.

This week, her husband unattached the line hooked to their outside faucet and water stopped running inside their house, she said.

After the CBC inquiry, the city said they would send a crew by their house. Barnes said the crew said their line was indeed still blocked.

The city couldn't explain the discrepancy.

"I don't think they really know what's wrong. They're guessing that it's frozen out on the street," Barnes said.

Work is being done, however. Barnes noted crews got water running at a neighbour's house this week. She's hoping that means hers might be high on the waiting list.

Crews last visited for steaming March 14, she said, and her last call from the city was March 24.

The couple stays home in the evenings and on the weekends in hopes that the city will come by. They also feel they have to watch for potential water damage, as they say the installed temporary line leaked in their basement and they must leave a tap running at all times to prevent the thin line from freezing.

"We feel like prisoners in our house," Barnes said.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the city said it's been dealing with the worst frost conditions in 40 years.

"There are some cases [pipes] that are extremely stubborn and we have not been successful with thawing," the spokesperson said by email.

Barnes said she hopes to hear more from the city — and see a solution sooner than May. She said she also had been told she could consider hiring a contractor to fix the situation at her own cost. 

"I'm just feeling very frustrated with the city, and it would be nice to have a lot more communication as in phone calls, coming to our house," Barnes said. "You know, even emails, just to let us know that they still are aware of our situation and are working on it."