Mystery leak that forced Scarborough family from home spreads as city continues to investigate

A mystery leak that's forced a Scarborough family from their home for the past month appears to be spreading. 

Linda Mangalathu, her husband and two children discovered the flood in late April, but plumbers were unable to solve the problem, which grew for several days until the family was forced to move in with nearby relatives.

Now, her next door neighbours, Bailey Panesar and his wife, report they too were flooded out by ankle deep water in their basement on May 24. 

"I was bringing up 20 or 30 buckets of water, running up and down the stairs," Panesar told CBC Toronto of the night his basement flooded. "Nothing helped."

Across the street, a third homeowner on Shadowood Court, in the Highway 401 and Morningside Avenue area, said she began experiencing smelly, murky tap water just this week.

"I'm nervous," Elenita Sarcilla told CBC Toronto.

She said she's worried about what could become of her home after what happened to neighbour Mangalathu's property, which is still marred by a large and growing excavation in the middle of her front yard. That has now been expanded by contractors to include about a third of Panesar's driveway.

City media relations manager Russell Baker said in an email that city crews are busy shoring up the pit in Managalathu's front yard, while trying to pin down a break in the storm sewer line that connects Mangathalu's house to the municipal sewer system.

That clogged storm sewer pipe was discovered at the beginning of May, but contractors have told CBC Toronto there have been problems discovering exactly where the break is. Besides, they've said, there's no guarantee that the broken pipe is causing the flooding.

City engineers are trying to determine the best way to find and repair the break in the pipe safely, says Baker.

"Once the City's work on the utility infrastructure is complete, the City will complete restoration of the City's lands adjacent to the homeowner's property," Baker's email reads. 

As for the source of the water, Baker's email says it "appears to be groundwater."

"It is the responsibility of the property owner to investigate and address any issues on the private side of the property," the email continues.

Mangalathu told CBC Toronto this week that the problems have so far cost her about $50,000 and she expects that bill to rise to $70,000 once her contractor has filled in the hole in her front yard and repaired damage to neighbouring properties. That includes piles of asphalt and other construction debris on one neighbour's front yard and the damage done to Panesar's driveway.

Mangalathu says only about $15,000 of that will be covered by her insurance company.

Panesar said in his basement, minor flooding occurred around May 19 as contractors were excavating Mangalathu's yard next door, but quickly escalated to a serious flood over the next few days.

He hired a plumbing contractor who helped pump the water out of his basement and shut off all the water to the house. Workers hired by his insurance company have now "demolished" his basement, he said, and he and his wife have moved into a hotel. All of his expenses so far have been covered by his insurance company, he said.

"It was fun the first couple of nights," Panesar said of living in the hotel, "but now it's terrible. Takeout food for every meal of the day — it's definitely not a good feeling."

He's also concerned about the future of the home he and his wife bought earlier this year. Although there is no water in the basement now, he worries about what will happen when the pumps are turned off and the water is turned on again.

'Complete mystery'

"It's nowhere near wrapped up," he said. "It's a complete mystery."

The neighbourhood's woes began on Mangalathu's property at the end of April, when she experienced something many Toronto homeowners are familiar with: a minor basement flood she initially thought required nothing more than a $300 plumber's visit.

Workers discovered a leak in her sewer pipes and determined the storm sewer pipe had collapsed under the weight of wet soil —a problem they could not immediately fix, as the pipes extend out onto city property. 

Benjamin Sarault of Henry's Bobcat Service said he's established that the home's weeping tile system — a perforated pipe that circles a house to collect any underground water — is intact and delivering any water it catches into the storm pipe, as it should. 

But that damaged storm pipe could be spilling the water right back into the soil around the houses, he says. From there, the water could be making its way back through the foundation into the house, but he acknowledges that's just a guess. 

While Mangalathu waits for the outcome of the city's investigation and repairs, her costs are mounting and so is her stress level. She also says she's had to take time off from her job.

"My life is paused; I don't know what to do next," she said Tuesday. "Frustration, stress, you name it.

"I'm hoping to get back into my house and my normal life."