Two recent water main breaks in Wingham are being attributed to the switch over to a strictly pump-based water system as the standpipe undergoes reconstruction.
Last week, a water main broke at the intersection of Josephine Street and Albert Street, and on Thursday another break occurred along George Street.
The town's water system is being run on pumps for the next year while the standpipe is rebuilt. The pumps are run by the new supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.
Director of Public Works Kevin Watson said there has been some issues in the transition.
"When you had 65 per cent capacity in the standpipe before, you'd have very consistent pressure coming out the bottom," he said. "You wouldn't have the flucuations that we're experiencing with the pumps now. But that's all getting balanced out, we'll have a good handle on that very shortly, and then we'll just have to monitor."
Watson said the higher pressures have been behind the new breaks, with crews finding that the old line at Josephine and Albert "basically rotted out" with the new volume of water.
He said some issues were to be expected, but notes that Blyth has always been on a pump pressure system and their issues are minimal.
The standpipe reconstruction is tentatively scheduled to be completed next July.
Anyone residents who notice issues with pressure should contact public works or Veolia.
