When it comes to water main breaks in Regina, 2015 has been a very good year.
Over the half decade, not so good, however.
CBC News has mapped every water main break in Regina between the beginning of 2009 and the end of 2014. That's 1,104 busted pipes.
Rash of red dots
With red dots for every break, the result is a city that looks like it has a bad case of the measles. Virtually every corner of the city that's more than a few years old has experienced water main breaks.
Some water main breaks are worse than others. Several blocks southeast of Regina's downtown were flooded in 2007 after a main broke. ((CBC))
Each time it happens, a city crew comes out to start digging and make repairs.
South gets its share of water main breaks
A few brand new neighbourhoods like Harbour Landing have been immune from the breaks, but everywhere else there's a sprinkling of red dots.
'Actually, we have been having a very, very low year for water main breaks.'
- Pat Wilson, City of Regina director of waterworks
There appears to be a a slightly concentrated number of water main break problems in the city's south end, and relatively low numbers in the northeast.
Predicting breaks not easy
The bottom line is, there's really no discernible pattern that would allow the city to know where the next batch of breaks will happen, says Pat Wilson, the city's director of waterworks.
The good news is 2015 is turning out to be one of the better years.
"Actually, we have been having a very, very low year for water main breaks," Wilson said.
Typically, there are 65 water main breaks in the first half of the year, she said. However, so far there have only been 19 to the end of June.
The worst years are when there's an especially dry summer or an especially cold winter.
Rain could be good sign
The heavy rain late last month is a good sign that the number of breaks could remain relatively low, she said.
However, if there's more dry, hot weather, that could change.
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