Calgary can now restore the water service from the Bearspaw water feeder main after Alberta Health Services (AHS) gave the all-clear on water quality.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that they can now stabilize the system, but it doesn’t mean yet that water is going to be flowing fully through the now-repaired feeder pipe. In her early morning update, Mayor Gondek said that they’d provided samples yesterday afternoon, and it needed 24 hours for testing to be complete.

“I must stress again that this step is the one that involves the greatest amount of risk,” the mayor said.

“We are going slowly and cautiously to ensure that turning valves and pumps back on does not create strain on the system.”

Preparations are underway at the Shaganappi pump station to begin opening valves to connect the feeder main back to the system.

Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said that this milestone presents the biggest risk for a water main break or disruption since June 5.

“If we go too fast, we could overstress the system and be in a worse situation than when we started,” Chief Henry said.

“We have to remember that we’re not just stabilizing the six areas that were under repair. We are stabilizing Calgary’s entire 5,000-kilometer network of pipe and the system that supports it.”

Infrastructure Services GM Michael Thompson reiterated that the step of stabilizing the system is a delicate one. They will slowly increase the flow of water and pressure from the Bearspaw water treatment plant.

“This is encouraging, but I want to stress that we still have a lot of careful, high-risk work ahead of us,” he said.

“The pressure changes created as we bring the pipe back into service could cause some issues to the pipe and throughout our network.”

Pressure will be increased in the pipe in intervals, with the system being monitored for any emerging issues, according to the city.

Continued water conservation is necessary: Officials

Francois Bouchart, director of Capital Priorities and Investments, said they are prepared to deal with any emerging issues.  In the meantime, he, along with other officials, stressed the need to continue conserving water.

On Saturday, Calgary used 447 million litres of water, well below the 480 million litre threshold set by the city to ensure there’s enough water for life-saving measures and in the case of a large fire.

“I know you’re all anxious to hear exactly when some of our water restrictions will be eased, and right now it’s still too soon to say,” he said.

“A lot will depend on how things go over this next period. What I can say is that when we do ease restrictions, we won’t do it all at once.”

Bouchart said they would continue providing ongoing updates, but that they’d indicated that the stabilization process would be three to five days.

“Assuming everything goes perfectly as we hope, then the three to five days is still appropriate,” he said.

“During that time, we would start seeing a gradual easing of restrictions.”

Reducing indoor water saving would be the first part to be relaxed, then outdoor water use rules that are a part of the Stage 4 water restrictions.

More than 30 water samples were taken during the testing phase, according to Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Franco Rizzuti with AHS. There were also multiple samples taken at the site of the pipe repairs so they could look at the chlorine content and turbidity (clarity and sediment) of the water.

“This provided AHS, our partners with Environment and Protected Areas and the City, a really thorough understanding of what was happening in near real-time as we filled, flushed and then tested this feeder main,” Dr. Rizzuti said.

There were no microorganisms in any of the 30+ samples taken. Water quality testing will continue during the stabilization phase.