City crews were busy cleaning up Thursday after a series of water main breaks made a mess during the morning commute around Winnipeg.
Three water mains burst during another day of frigid temperatures, sending water gushing out onto city streets.
One of the water mains on Selkirk Avenue burst. Water was about eight inches deep outside Gunn's Bakery.
Selkirk from Main Street to Charles had to be closed and the water shut off, which meant the bakery couldn't operate, hampering deliveries for Doug Mason.
"I had to park three blocks away and walked in I got quite wet, but I walked in," said Mason.
But he took it all in stride.
"Most Winnipeggers just suck it up and go with it....Winter (is) winter. It’s not going away for awhile so you laugh at it, have fun with it and go on," added Mason.
But the fun may have to wait because the water had to be shut off so crews could fix the breakage. That means the bakery had no water for the day.
That also means Mason may have nothing to deliver Friday, because no water means no baking.
Crews were busy on Tache Avenue too as workers waded through the water to get at clogged drains near the St. Boniface Hospital.
The pipes belong to the hospital but city crews were there to help.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said no patient care was interupted because of the water main but crews are still trying to determine where exactly the pipe broke.
For now, a valve at the edge of Tache Avenue had to be shut off.
And if it feels like this winter has been harder on Winnipeg’s water mains than others, that's because it has.
There have been 200 hundred breaks since December. That's 25 more than last year to this point -- and 50 more than the five-year average.
Gunn’s Bakery owners, meanwhile, are hoping the water will be back on Friday but there are no guarantees.
About 14 homes on Selkirk Avenue were affected too. For now, the city set up a water tank while the break is being fixed.
A third water main broke on Salter Street near Templeton Avenue Thursday.
