Pipe bursts and cold apartments: what is known about utility failures in Omsk

In Omsk today, 21 January, a new wave of complaints and appeals from residents has begun regarding heating outages in residential buildings and social facilities. Almost 100 buildings (including 67 apartment blocks) in the Leninsky District were affected after a heating main running from Thermal Power Plant-2 ruptured at Privokzalnaya Square. Teams of specialists are working on site, but the accident has not yet been repaired. The prosecutor«s office has launched an investigation into the emergency.

Meanwhile, residents report cold in their apartments. Many do not know their homes lack heat due to a large-scale utility failure.

“In the building at 10-ya Cheredovaya, 26, there has been no heating or hot water since 6 a.m. We called the Housing Maintenance Office, TGC, and the city administration, and everyone gives a different answer on this matter.”

“In the area of the bread factory (on Marxa Street) heating is turned off. Kotovskogo, 8 and other buildings. They say there will be no heating until 11 p.m., a major accident by ‘Omsk RTS’ (Omsk Heating Network). I understand accidents can happen anytime. But what are you doing there? In the summer, we have no water for two months, and in winter at -30°C (-22°F) — no heating.”

Emergencies have also occurred in other districts of the city. In an apartment building on Mamina-Sibiryaka Street, a pipe burst and the entrance turned into a sauna.

“At Mamina-Sibiryaka, 24, the whole building has been filled with steam since 7 a.m.; you can’t see anything in the entrance, and it’s hard to breathe — a rupture of the hydraulic unit in the basement. All requests have been made to the management company, the city’s heat and emergency services, but the cart is still stuck in the same place.”

The ‘Teplovaya Kompaniya’ (Heat Company) responded to the complaint, emphasizing that repair work is underway. However, a more precise answer will only be given on 30 January.

Residents of a building on Goryacheva Street in the Neftyaniki district are also complaining about cold radiators.

“In the frost, it«s terribly cold in the apartments! It»s warm only in the first entrance, but according to unconfirmed information, something was once connected in the basement there to make it warm. In some apartments, it«s 17°C (63°F). The management company ‘Service’ just throws up its hands.”

Near an apartment building in the Chkalovsky settlement, a lake of hot water has formed.

“Romanenko, 6. Second day of a lake of hot water around the well. Today a car got stuck in the thawed ditch, they haven’t been able to pull it out for an hour.”

The ‘Heat Company’ promised to clarify the information on the situation.

It is also cold in Stary Kirovsk. This is reported by residents of Transsibirskaya Street.

“Heat Company, 19 degrees Celsius (66°F) in the apartment, dropped by two degrees in three days. Have you decided to freeze people out? Transsibirskaya, 4.”

The State Housing Inspectorate responded to the complaint about the cold, reminding everyone of the required temperature standards in residential premises.

“During the heating period, the temperature in residential premises must be not lower than +20°C (68°F) (in corner rooms — +22°C (72°F)) and not higher than +24°C (75°F) (in corner rooms — not higher than +26°C (79°F)),” the State Housing Inspectorate clarified.

There are also heating problems in social institutions. Children from school No. 48 were switched to distance learning due to the cold in the classrooms.

“Due to the improper performance by the contractor of the work on the major repair of the heating system in school No. 48, a decision was made to unilaterally terminate the contract. Currently, a new contract for the technical maintenance of the automated heat energy metering unit has been concluded with a service organization, which will carry out work to normalize the operation of the heating system,” representatives of the Omsk mayor«s office reported.

Residents also report cold in kindergarten No. 247 on Vsevolod Ivanov Street, where the temperature is below 20 degrees Celsius (68°F). At the Transport Construction College, a pipe burst in -20°C (-4°F) frost — leaving both classrooms and the dormitory without heating.

“We are scared for the kids who will have to sleep in cooling rooms when it’s so cold outside. Why can«t the pipes withstand the load right now? Who will answer for the disrupted classes and icy radiators?” wrote Omsk residents in the public group ‘Omsk News: Harsh Stuff’.

Students from the Transport Construction College, where indoor temperatures are only +10°C (50°F), and from the College of Innovative Technologies, Economics, and Commerce, where the temperature dropped to +12°C (54°F), also report the cold.

Earlier we told about the reasons why pipes are bursting all over the city.