Millions of litres of water were lost when a watermain broke in Calgary's northeast and sent highly pressurized water high into the air.

The break occurred in the 4000 block of Rundlehorn Drive NE and the extent of the damage and the cause won't be determined until sometime on Friday.

A 64 cm diameter concrete feeder main burst right next to a detached garage.

Kim Ford, one of the area residents said that he found it quite the sight. "It's unbelievable that it could go that high above the peak of the garage."

Water soon began shooting out, threatening the structure of the garage and forcing the family to be evacuated.

A neighbour's backyard and at least one other home were flooded in the deluge.

Brian McCasey, with the Calgary Fire Department, said the water could have damaged the foundation of the garage as well. "That water is coming out with a lot of pressure and it is possibly affecting the foundation. We're quite concerned about that. There's quite a bit of damage to the siding and everything."

Residents dubbed the massive pool of water Lake Rundlehorn as city water services said it would take some time to shut off the torrent.

Chris Huston, from Calgary Water Services, said they wanted to do it slowly so the system wouldn't break somewhere else. "There's crossties connected to this main that feed the neighbourhood here so those each have to be closed."

Over four hours since the break was reported, water services finally shut off the water and gave everyone a look at the soggy disaster.

The family will be visiting with its insurance company and water services will be looking into what caused the break. "We have to investigate the pipe and find out what mode of failure happened; was it from ground conditions, was it a defect in the pipe," Huston said.

He also said that the feeder main is just 40 years old and it should have easily lasted 75 to 100 years.

The evacuated residents will have to stay with other family for now.

No other homes had their water cut off.