REGINA — Bushwakker Brewpub has been forced to close its doors as of Wednesday due to flooding.
On Friday, the City of Regina released an update explaining the cause of the incident.
“The source of the break or the leak was discovered to be on a water service connection feeding into Bushwakker,” said Carolyn Kalim, director of water, waste, and environment with the City of Regina at a media scrum on Friday.
According to Kalim, the city was informed of the leak on Wednesday at 3 p.m., with crews arriving on scene roughly 10 minutes later.
“We have then shut off the main for that block to make it safe and begun doing all of the excavation [on the sidewalk] there since that time.”
Water has since returned to all businesses along the block, except Bushwakkers.
Connection to recent construction?
For two years, Dewdney Avenue, where Bushwakker Brewpub resides, underwent construction as part of a revitalization project.
The work included underground infrastructure work. However, the exact feeder which broke hadn’t been replaced during construction, said Kalim.
“The water main that feeds into the building is a bit newer, but not part of the project. And then the water service connection going into Bushwakkers was actually two different materials. One was the newer PVC material, and then there was a section of cast iron which broke.”
While she could not confirm the exact age of the cast-iron service connection, Kalim said it was likely quite old.
The city said those water service connections were not replaced during the project because of the costs that would have been passed on to businesses.
“Anytime we have to do work that would tie into the buildings themselves, we're talking about very costly work. And so that's something that is probably a concern for many businesses,” said Kalim.
Although she said conversations on replacements would happen in the future.
Next steps
Kalim said the city is waiting for Bushwakker to complete the necessary plumbing work on its side before a new pipe can be installed.
“We're gonna be putting a brand new pipe all the way into their building, and it needs to come up, and there's some concrete work. So we just need to make sure that's all good.”
From her understanding, Kalim said the city will likely begin the installation on Monday as they work towards restoring water.
Once completed, the city will then turn its attention to the dug-up sidewalk.
“We're going really carefully and methodically to be able to bring that right back up to the beautiful condition that we saw earlier this spring,” said Kalim.
Kalim noted that restoring the sidewalk would require about three full days of work.
It’s unclear how much the damages will cost Bushwakker.
Kalim said the city will work with the restaurant on insurance processes, any warranty, etc.
