Watermain construction at your home
Why watermain construction often affects driveways, yards, sidewalks and roads, and how we’ll complete repairs after construction.
Replacing the underground watermain usually requires digging a trench in the municipal right-of-way owned by the city, town, or region.
The municipal right-of-way includes the street and the land between the street and your water service box. Depending on the location of the watermain, this trench might cause temporary damage to roads, curbs, sidewalks, boulevards, lawns, and the bottom of driveways within the municipal right-of-way.
To maintain your water supply, Peel Region may also replace:
- Your water service box: a small, round, metal shut-off valve located outside, usually on the property line between your house/business and the road. (If you can’t find your water service box, call us at 905-791-7800, extension 4409.)
- The section of your water service pipe leading from the watermain to your water service box. The water service pipe carries water from the watermain to your home or business.
This requires digging up your water service box located in the lawn or driveway, and disturbing an area at least two square meters. We therefore recommend that you delay any driveway paving or major landscaping projects until this construction work is completed.
Other information
The contractor hired by Peel Region will restore the property as close as possible to its original state.
We will repair any damage to driveways, lawns, roads, sidewalks and curbs once the new watermain has been buried and the new water service pipes have been connected to all properties on your street.
Repairs may be delayed due to contractor availability or certain seasonal weather conditions. For example:
- Paving cannot take place when the ground is saturated with water or the temperature is below 3°C.
- Asphalt is not available in large volumes during the winter. Asphalt usually becomes available around mid-May.
- Most sod farms are located north of Peel. They usually have sod available beginning in late May. We will replace the sod on your property once it is available. We replace sod only until the middle of November, weather permitting, to let the sod grow roots. If we do not repair your lawn by the middle of November, we’ll replace the sod the following spring.
Why Peel Region’s repairs may appear incomplete
Final repairs may be delayed if your town or city is planning to do roadwork on your street. To save taxpayers’ money, we coordinate construction work with the cities of Mississauga and Brampton and the Town of Caledon. Our watermain replacement is therefore often followed by roadwork completed by the local city or town.
As this roadwork may also impact roads, sidewalks, curbs, driveways, or lawns next to the sidewalk, we may:
- Pave only the areas of the street we disturbed.
- Temporarily fix damaged sidewalks and curbs using asphalt.
- Patch your driveway to cover any places we disturbed, as the future roadwork may affect the bottom of your driveway. After the city/town paves your street, the driveway will be repaired by paving a strip over the disturbed area, resulting in minimal seams in the driveway.
In this case, Peel Region’s repairs are temporary, as your city or town will complete restoration as part of their roadwork.
For more information about local municipal road construction, refer to:
The bottom of your driveway may be affected when we dig the trench for the new watermain or replace your water service box. Installing a new water service box will require digging a hole approximately two square meters in size. Your driveway will be impacted if your water service box is in your driveway. If your water service box is in your lawn, expect the lawn to be disturbed.
Learn more about accessing your driveway
Where possible, your water service pipe will be installed using tunneling equipment. If tunnelling isn’t possible due to ground or environmental conditions, the contractor will need to dig a trench to install the new pipe. This trench may be in your driveway or lawn, depending on the location of your water service box.
Driveway repairs: Asphalt driveways
If we need to cut a section of your driveway to access the watermain or to replace part of your water service pipe, we’ll repair the asphalt in the damaged section. Peel Region cannot completely replace your driveway.
Typically, we’ll repair the driveway by paving a strip across the driveway to cover the disturbed section. This will result in minimal seams in the final driveway.
The scale of the asphalt repair will depend on:
- The specific location of the water service box.
- Whether or not there is a sidewalk or boulevard.
- Whether the water service pipe is installed using tunneling equipment or by digging a trench. Wherever possible, the contractor will use tunneling equipment if soil and environmental conditions allow.
If construction work causes additional damage to the driveway, we’ll repair those areas too.
Driveway repairs: Interlock or concrete driveways
If we need to disturb your driveway to access the watermain or to replace part of your water service pipe, our contractor will repair the damaged portion of the driveway.
If your front lawn is affected by this work, in-ground sprinkler systems may be disturbed. To minimize the impact to your sprinkler system, we strongly recommend moving any sprinkler lines that are located in the municipal right-of-way or next to the sidewalk.
If you can’t relocate these sprinkler lines before construction begins on your street, please:
- Email us a map created by your irrigation contractor, or
- Flag each sprinkler head that is located within the municipal right-of-way and/or within one meter of sidewalk, curb, or driveway.
Trees, shrubs, or plants
We will need to remove any plants, shrubs, or trees planted within one meter of fire hydrants or water service boxes. We strongly recommend moving these plants before construction begins.
The Water By-law prohibits placing trees, shrubs, or any objects within 1 meter of any fire hydrants to allow access.
If tree branches within the municipal right-of-way interfere with construction, the trees will be pruned. If tree branches on private property interfere with construction, they will be pruned back to the nearest suitable trunk or branch.
If you do not allow personnel onto your property to trim the tree, the branches will be cut vertically at the property line.
Front yard and lawn repairs
The contractor will replace any damaged sod (grass) on your front lawn.
If construction disturbs landscaping on private property, such as garden beds, rocks, walkways, patios, or fences, the contractor will restore the landscaping as close as possible to its original state.
Taking care of replacement sod
Our contractor will take care of the new sod (grass) for 30 days.
You can help the sod stay healthy by watering it.
A longer ‘deep root watering’ works better to establish new sod than watering more frequently for a shorter time. Watering in the early morning allows more water to soak in instead of evaporating.
In many cases, your private-side water service pipe is the same age or in the same condition as the municipal water service pipe that is being replaced.
You may want to consider replacing your private-side water service to ensure a constant supply of high-quality drinking water to your home or business.
Replacing a private-side water service is the responsibility of the property owner. Peel Region cannot do this work for you. Refer to replacing your private-side water service for more information.
You may also want to consider enrolling in Service Line Warranties of Canada’s service line warranty program. This warranty program provides protection from the unexpected and expensive costs of broken or frozen pipes on your private side property.
Sometimes a service box will pop up and will no longer be level with the ground after construction and restoration. If this happens to your service box, email us or call 905-791-7800 ext. 4409 so we can adjust it.
If the sod around the service box hasn’t been replaced, we’ve left the service box high on purpose to leave space for the new sod. We’ll adjust the service box once the new sod is placed.
All work is under warranty for 2 years from the completion date.
It’s common for repaired areas to settle slightly after construction.
If you notice large potholes forming where the driveway, street, or lawn was repaired, email us or call 905-791-7800 ext. 4409. We will ensure the contractor fixes this before the end of the warranty period.
