CALGARY — Mayor Jeromy Farkas announced water consumption in Calgary and has stayed in the green zone (less than 500 million litres per day) every day since water restrictions came into effect on Monday.
“We are now four days into the planned reinforcement work on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main and corresponding water restrictions.” said Farkas.
“People across Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation are successfully keeping water demand below 500 million litres, with yesterday’s water use at 489 million litres.”
“Thank you for helping us meet daily water demands and reduce risk to our system while the feeder main is out of service. We know this is just the beginning. The feeder main will remain shut down for about three and a half more weeks while reinforcement work continues.”
Once again, Farkas emphasized that everyone save 25 litres per person, per day by flushing toilets only when needed; keeping showers to three minutes or less, and; running dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.
“Our water demand numbers show that our community is full of water heroes,” he said. “Please keep up the great work and spread the word about the steps you are taking to save water.”
Michael Thompson, general manager of essential services at the city, gave an update on construction activity in the Bowness/Montgomery areas in northwest Calgary, including a new partial road closure.
“The intersection of 83 St. and 33 Ave. will be partially closed and lane reductions will be in place,” said Thomson. “Temporary traffic lights and traffic flaggers will help direct vehicles during peak hours.”
Crews are making steady progress on the planned reinforcement of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, added Thompson.
“We are reinforcing nine pipe segments, including six segments along 16 Ave. near Sarcee Tr. and three segments at Point McKay Park,” he said.
“Construction remains on schedule. We are continuing to drain water from the final section of pipe and excavation is underway across all work areas. Crews are currently preparing the exposed sections of pipe for reinforcement work.”
Additional feeder main work is being completed along 33 Ave. to repair valves and prepare for the future connection of the new steel feeder main.
“Valve repairs began today and are expected to take approximately 10 days,” said Thompson, adding residents are responding with their own water saving stories.
“We have been hearing many inspiring stories of how businesses and organizations across the region are taking steps to conserve water by adjusting their operations,” he said. “We are asking all businesses to review operations for unnecessary water use, fix leaks and adjust processes where possible and hare water‑saving ideas with staff and customers.”
Thompson added a new, downloadable save water poster is available for businesses to share with customers and staff which can be found on calgary.ca/savewater along with the latest updates, practical tips and resources.