Service Disruptions

Yesterday, wastewater operations were advised of a watermain break on Hiram St in Bracebridge. For the safety of our District crews and contractor while investigating and repairing the watermain break, Hiram street will be closed, and detour signs will be in effect while the work is completed. The properties will also experience a water disruption on Thursday, November 22, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Affected residents received hand-delivered notices advising them of this information, and recommended steps to take.  

Emergency work to repair the break will be on:

• Thursday, November 24th, 2022 from 9 a.m. and it is anticipated to be completed the same day

Although this work was initially identified yesterday evening, this critical work requires daylight, enhanced visibility, and heightened safety measures to ensure the disruption and road closure is limited and does not extend over multiple days.

Location: 

Hiram Street in Bracebridge. Properties affected - Hiram St 200 through to 247 as well as 36 McDonald St

Detour: 

Detour signage is in effect.

Access:

Full road closure. No access. Signage will be posted. NO EMS ACCESS

Services:

Water service repair – notices have been hand-delivered.

Date:

Thursday, November 24th, 2022 (beginning at 9 am)

Reason: 

Water service repair to residents on Hiram Street From 200 through to 247 as well as 36 Mcdonald St

Contact:

The District of Muskoka – Water and Wastewater Department – 705-645-6764 

For full notice, click here.

Port Severn Community – Temporary Overnight Water Disruption. 

• Work is scheduled from Thursday, November 24^th starting at 11:00 p.m.
• Maintenance to improve and maintain water plant performance to keep clean water flowing to Port Severn water customers.

Residents will experience a short intermittent water outages beginning at 11:00 p.m. Customers will have access to water in the morning – this will occur overnight.

Reminder to residents: Flush your lines in the morning to remove any air that may enter the system. This scheduled work is taking place to improve system performance during peak water use times and for testing of the water system integrity.

For full notice click here

The District Municipality of Muskoka requires a temporary shutdown to address infrastructure work, resulting in a water service interruption. Water to your property will be turned off on Monday, November 28th 2022 at 8:30am and is expected to be turned back on by 5:00 pm or once WM connection completed. While we expect your water service restored by the time noted additional time may be required if unexpected conditions are encountered. We will advise you if this is the case.

What you should do to prepare.

Before water service is shut down, we recommend that you fill a bathtub with water to use for flushing toilets, close the main water valve (near your water meter) and avoid using any fixtures during while the work takes place. While the water is shut off, toilets may be flushed by using a bucket to fill the tank on the back of the toilet with water from the bathtub and flushing normally.

What you should do when service is returned

When the work is complete, we recommend that you turn the main valve in your basement back on and run water through the cold water tap on your laundry tub for approximately 5 minutes. You may notice some discolouration or cloudiness during this time and this is normal and should clear up as the flushing takes place. If it does not clear please contact us at the numbers noted below.

We thank you for your patience and cooperation as these required infrastructure repairs are

The District Municipality of Muskoka requires a temporary shutdown to address an infrastructure repair, resulting in a water service interruption.

Water to your property will be turned off on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 at 8:30am and is expected to be turned back on by 2:00 pm. 

While we expect your water will be returned to normal before the time noted above, additional time may be required if unexpected conditions are encountered.  We will advise you if this is the case.

What you should do to prepare.

Before water service is shut down, we recommend that you fill a bathtub with water to use for flushing toilets, close the main water valve (near your water meter) and avoid using any fixtures during while the work takes place. While the water is shut off, toilets may be flushed by using a bucket to fill the tank on the back of the toilet with water from the bathtub and flushing normally.

What you should do when service is returned

When the work is complete, we recommend that you turn the main valve in your basement back on and run water through the cold water tap on your laundry tub for approximately 5 minutes.  You may notice some discolouration or cloudiness during this time and this is normal and should clear up as the flushing takes place. If it does not clear please contact us at the numbers noted below.

We thank you for your patience and cooperation as these required infrastructure repairs are completed. If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

Residents can use any municipal public drinking water tap in Muskoka. There are taps located in each area municipality and can be found at the link below.

Public Drinking Water Tap Locations

• Store one gallon of water per person per day for 3 days
• As long as municipal tap water is stored in a clean, airtight container and in a cool location, the water should remain safe indefinitely
• As a general rule it is recommended to change the emergency water supply at least once every six months

By downloading the Voyent Alert! app and registering, residents and visitors can select to receive notifications from a wide variety of communication channels including mobile apps, text/SMS alerting, email or voice calling.  The system will also allow you to create and track multiple locations such as “Kids School”, “Work”, “Cottage” or “Mom’s House”.   Any event or communication related to your tracked locations will be forwarded to you along your preferred communication channel(s).   Smart alerting capabilities ensure that you will only get notified when a communication is relevant to you or one of the locations you are tracking. More information on our AlertMuskoka page.

If there's an emergency, you will need to know this information ahead of time. You can't afford to waste precious time searching while the basement floods or the carpets are drenched.

Most common locations for the master valve are where the main water pipe enters your home, near the washing machine hook-up or near your water heater. Best to check and make certain you and your family know where it is!

• Insulate your outside water pipes with specially designed foam pipe covers or heating tape available from most hardware stores
• Heat your crawl space
• Open cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate
• In extreme cold weather consider leaving a tap open enough to allow a stream of water to flow
• Know where your main shut off is located in case of an emergency

 
Leaving for the winter?  

• If you are on municipal services, consider having your service shut off at the street and your lines drained
• If you are on privates services, arrange for a plumber to winterize your dwelling
• Keep your thermostat set at 15 degrees Celsius or higher

Pipes Already Frozen? 

• If you suspect your pipes are frozen, try using a hair dryer directed where your line enters the home - never use an open flame or torch
• Call a plumber, it may take a professional to determine where it is frozen and a thawing machine may be needed
• Once it is thawed, leave a tap running

Municipal Services Frozen? 

• A plumber can determine if the line is frozen on the municipal side and notify the District of Muskoka Water and Wastewater field staff
• 24/7 contact information is available - see below