Residents of Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation used 499 litres of water on Sunday, while the City of Calgary used five million litres to refill a section of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main.
This temporarily increased water demand, means usage was technically in the green zone.
“Your water-saving actions were especially important in helping us manage that demand and help us keep water flowing across the region until the entire pipe is back in service,” said Michael Thompson, general manager, infrastructure services with the City of Calgary.
“As we enter our third week of planned reinforcement work on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, we want to thank Calgarians and our neighbours for continuing to reduce your water use,” said Thompson.
He added the city cannot return the feeder main to full service until all reinforcement work is complete.
“We know saving water takes extra effort and by staying focused on these daily water-saving actions, we can finish strong in the green zone and ensure we have enough capacity in our system to respond to unexpected issues or emergencies,” said Mayor Jeromy Farkas.
“We are asking everyone to continue saving 25 litres of water 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.
Thompson said two weeks of reinforcement work remain.
“Concrete pours are now complete at all nine segments of pipe. At six of these segments, the concrete has already cured and backfilling is done. We are waiting for curing to finish at the other three segments,” he said.
“Over the coming days, crews will continue backfilling the remaining sections of pipe as curing completes. We will then move through the steps required to safely restore the pipe to service.”
“Valve work is now complete at the Shaganappi pump station and we have refilled that section of the pipe. We are planning to connect this section to the rest of the water system on Tuesday, once all water quality testing is complete.”
Water in north Calgary may be cloudy water as the section is connected.
“This will be temporary, and the water is safe to drink,” said Thompson.
Lane closures remain in place along 16 Ave. N.W. although additional closures scheduled to start Tuesday have been postponed to next week and more details will be released closer to the new start date.
"We're doing all of this at record setting speed and we are getting it done,” said Farkas. “To our crews who have faced a classic Calgary spring so far, thank you for your round the clock work and for residents, you have every right to be frustrated. You have every right to think that this is a situation we simply should not be in and I agree with that.”
“As we pass the halfway mark you are helping us get through this and more than that, you’re allowing us to stay focused to double down and to deliver."
For more information visit calgary.ca/savewater.
