A burst water main that left several Hillcrest homes and apartments without service for up to 37 hours was back in operation at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Dave Muir, the manager of the city's Public Works Department, said Thursday the failure was most likely caused by ground movements, as the iron piping installed in the 1950s is still in remarkably good shape.

The pipe, said Muir, busted right in half.

He said it was hats off to the crew for being able to find it as quickly as they did, given the age of the drawings they were working with, and some 60 years of time having gone by.

Residents of the eight homes without water for almost the entire time were provided with jugs of fresh water from the city for drinking, washing and flushing toilets.

Muir said the city's emergency line received a call at 10:30 p.m. Monday from a resident whose water pressure was low.

A team of two employees from the utility department was dispatched and noticed water streaming down Hillcrest Drive.

Repairs were hampered by ground conditions and the depth of the main, he said.

Muir said crews were able to begin isolating the broken section after locating the first of four valves at the corner of Hillcrest and Chalet Crescent at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

Finding the valves, he added, was a piece of work in itself. In some cases, a tow truck had to be called to remove retired vehicles.

One of the valves was buried almost a metre underground, when it should have been sitting much, much closer to the surface, Muir said.

The public works manager said once the crews zeroed in on the section, the number of homes without water was reduced to eight.

Work continued until dusk Tuesday. At that point, it was decided digging in the dark with artificial light in unstable ground conditions and a tired crew were not in the interest of safety, he said. Repair work resumed Wednesday morning.

The drawings, Muir pointed out, showed a depth to the main of 3.7 metres (12 feet).

But time, somehow, had added another 1.5 metres, and the crews didn't reach the pipe until 17 feet, he said.

As the hole became deeper, it had to be dug wider to reduce the hazard of sloughing.

City planning and engineering staff are currently in discussions with the residents of Hillcrest regarding a neighbourhood improvement project to replace the old water and sewer infrastructure and upgrade street surfacing.

City council has approved $60,000 this year for planning and assessment work to estimate the scope of the project.

Another $200,000 has been identified for next year by council but not approved to continue project engineering.

City engineer Wayne Tuck said Thursday in a perfect world with all the required financial resources, Hillcrest reconstruction would begin in 2014 or 2015 and be finished three years later.

There is, however, also growing interest in the downtown area for more replacement of aging infrastructure, he said, adding money is not unlimited.