Gotta catch 'em all!

[Image-1]


Good new for those civic-minded folks aching to do a little more shoveling this winter—HRM Halifax Water has provided a way to locate the blocked catch basins and fire hydrants in your neighbourhood.


During last winter’s snowpocalypse, helpful citizens wanted to dig out buried hydrants and clear obstructed catch basins in an unprecedented show of civic pride. But Halifax Water refused to make public a map showing hydrant locations because terrorists.

“We’re not going to give people ideas of how you can potentially sabotage the systems,” spokesperson James Campbell told CBC at the time. “We’re not going to identify for anybody where any of our critical infrastructure is.”

Instead, crews worked 24 hours a day for 10 weeks straight in the small window between extreme storms to clear drains and critical hydrants, along with sidewalks and roads. Those noble efforts helped Winter Operations spend more than $10 million over its budget.

With this new map, Halifax Water appears to have changed its mind. Any HRM resident (or terrorist) can now search through street addresses to find nearby catch basins and fire hydrants on the utility’s interactive site.

That’s about all you can do, though. The terms of use forbid anyone from copying, modifying or creating any derivative works from the map. Also, no one can distribute or publicly display any content obtained from this public map of public infrastructure without prior written consent. 


So, posting that image at the top of this article might be illegal. Sorry?


Any damaged, clogged or obstructed hydrants and catch basins can be reported directly to Halifax Water’s customer service line (902-490-4820). Catch basin clogs can be reported to HRM by dialling 311.


Winter will officially begin on December 22, and last until June.

UPDATE: As noted below, HRM is the one responsible for clearing catch basins. Halifax Water is responsible for damaged or tampered-with catch basins, and keeping hydrants clear.

Related Stories

Join the Conversation

1 Comment

  1. Hello,

    A few points of clarification to your story. Halifax Water has created and posted this user friendly map of hydrant and catchbasin locations, not HRM. You incorrectly state in paragraph one that HRM has provided this online map.
    HRM is responsible to keep catchbasins clear, not Halifax Water. Halifax Water is responsible to keep hydrants accessible, not HRM. HRM’s snow clearing budget is completely separate from any Halifax Water budgeting.
    If you find debris over a catchbasin, please clear it safely or report it to HRM by calling 311. If you see a catchbasin that appears to be damaged or tampered with (i.e. missing the grate), please report it to Halifax Water by calling 902-490-4820. If you see someone dumping material into the catchbasin, please email pollutionprevention@halifaxwater.ca. The public is encouraged to report unauthorized hydrant use as well as any hydrant that may be leaking, blocked or damaged by calling 902-490-4820.
    Enjoy the new App. We’re pleased to be getting great positive feedback from users.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *