Laura Orenchuk’s basement has flooded twice in the last ten months, both the result of water main breaks in front of her house.

“We had water in February of 2018. Our basement completely flooded overnight, and then we had water again on Tuesday,” she said.

In the 11 years her and her family have been living on Irvine Avenue, she said the water main has broken at least 10 times.

Orenchuk is frustrated with the constant clean-up and renovations, and wants the city to make changes now.

Russ Munro, the director of water and waste stream for the city, said the water main on Orenchuk’s street is scheduled to be replaced in 2020. Come spring, the city will re-evaluate to see if it needs to be replaced before then.

“We have to look at the system as a whole. When we see a rash of water main breaks or a lot in a short period of time in a particular infrastructure, that can bump it up and increase the priority,” said Munro.

The water main replacement can’t come soon enough for Orenchuk.

“We feel that this isn’t just a water main break … that this for us is more than that. You know, it’s an insurance break, it’s our home, it’s our yard,” she said.

When her basement flooded in February, the damage was extensive.

“We lost the bottom section of the walls, we lost the bathroom. We lost our fire place. This house was built in the ‘50s, so it had the original wood burning fireplace, so it had to be rebuilt. Everything down there had to be rebuilt and replaced.”

And now, just 10 months later, she’s back to living in a construction zone as she once again puts her basement back together.

“It’s hard and it’s devastating, like I just feel broken and stressed,” she said.

The most recent water main break was the result of a pressure change at the water treatment plant, according to the city.

The city said it sympathizes with the family, and that there’s a good chance the water main will be bumped up on the replacement priority list.