City officials plead with Calgarians to end the upward trend of daily water use

Mayor Jeromy Farkas and other Calgary officials asked Calgarians to be more mindful of water conservation after usage rose for a third consecutive day following Tuesday's water main break. "Overnight, our water use slipped further into the redzone. Without changes, we'll enter loss-of-life territory, where firefighting and emergency response may be compromised," wrote Farkas in an X post on Monday. "This is serious. Reducing use now protects lives and keeps essential services running. Please conserve."Calgarians used 510 million litres of water on Sunday, 10 million more than on Saturday and 37 million more than on Thursday. The City classifies >500 million litres as "unstable," 485-499 million as "strained," and <485 million as "stable." .The communities of Parkdale, Montgomery, Point McKay and West Hillhurst were put under a Boil Water Advisory on Tuesday following the break. On Sunday evening, that advisory was lifted. The entire city and select suburbs remain under a Stage 4 water restriction as workers continue to address the repercussions of the break. "Despite the advisory lifting, it is imperative that Calgarians continue to conserve water, so demand does not outstrip supply," Farkas wrote in an X post on Sunday. "The mandatory Stage 4 water restrictions remain in place as crews continue to work on the feeder main break near 16 Avenue N.W. east of Sarcee Trail.".City officials expect that Monday's return to normal daily routines following the holiday break for many Calgarians will increase strain on the city's water demand, and on Saturday, they asked residents to help prepare by being extra vigilant in conserving water over the weekend. "We still have an urgent need to reduce our water use so that we can make sure we all have enough while the feeder main is being repaired,” said Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Susan Henry on Saturday.The City of Calgary has posted a collection of ideas to help individuals conserve water. .The main break left damage along part of 16 Ave. N.W., which closed a stretch of that major road East of Sarcee Trail. Road workers worked 24/7 since Tuesday to expedaite the cleanup and minimize delays, and while parts of the road were opened for traffic on Monday's return to work, officals warned commutors that traffic would be slow moving. “We are investigating solutions to help ease the expected traffic congestion with people returning to work and school,” reads a statement from the city on Saturday. One lane on eastbound 16 Ave. was opened on Sunday, along with access to the road from Sarcee Trail, while the westbound lanes in the area remain closed. .Tuesday's water main break came along the Bearspaw Southe Feeder Main line, the same line where a June 2024 break wrecked havoic on Calgary's water suply for much of that summer. Farkas has informed Calgarians on Saturday that an independent report on the 2024 break is expected to be released "soon." This release of this report has garnered mass frusteration online, as it was revealed that a draft of it was completed prior to Tuesday, but it was sitting on a desk while the city dealt with another break in the same area. .The fact that City of Calgary were not surprised by the break happening again has another been a point of tension among individuals."We have to fix the pipe, and until we completely replace the pipe, this is a ticking time bomb that Calgarians will continue to live with," Farkas said on Wednesday.Alberta's premier has be vocal about her frusteration that this occured for a second time in under two years."I think it should be unacceptable to Calgarians that they discovered last year that the pipe hadn't been monitored for more than 10 years, starting in 2014, and now here we are, a year later, going through exactly the same thing, which everybody feared, is digging out of water in the middle of winter, when we're looking at potential minus 30 days ahead," said Premier Danielle Smith on Friday..Farka's has told Calgarian's that while the construction of a new pipe will take a number of years, his government is not going to sit on their hands and wait."The status quo is not acceptable for any of us," Farkas said on Wednesday. "It's not acceptable for administration, and it's certainly not acceptable to the public, and we're taking immediate action."City officals are expected to provide updates at a press conference scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday.

City officials plead with Calgarians to end the upward trend of daily water use

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