Communication is key when there are water issues, and one city councillor is hoping the City of Calgary can take a greater role in getting the message out.
Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp will have a Notice of Motion coming to the April 15 Executive Committee for technical review to strengthen the customer service outreach when essential water services are disrupted.
Her motion calls for a review of and potential improvements for communication, including a detailed analysis of City of Calgary protocol, and an examination of how other cities handle communications when there are water outages.
Sharp said the motion is lingering action after the Bearspaw water feeder main break last June, but once again brought to the fore with a small outage affecting 25 homes in Bowness. She said information in these situations is somewhat delayed.
“It was very reactive. There were a lot of residents that did not know… they had to boil their water. There were residents that were turning on their taps and their tap water was brown, and there were people that had no idea that there was water wagons,” Sharp told reporters.
“So, we were out knocking on doors and putting door hangers on, and crews were out doing the best they can. There needs to be a mechanism where it’s a customer service piece to this that residents in Calgary would know that there’s water disruption.”
Sharp is hoping for a report to come back at the final meeting of the summer, just prior to the break before Calgary’s 2025 municipal election. In it, she’s asking for recommendations to improve current water outage practices, including cost and implementation time.
She’s also hoping to see about complimentary daily recreation passes being given out to people so they can have adequate essential services. Finally, an annual reporting mechanism is being sought to note the number and duration of water service disruptions, and feedback from customers.
Current comms process already under review: City
The City of Calgary already has a web page that provides information on current water main breaks and outages. The target time for repair on most water main breaks is 48 hours.
In response to questions on their current communications process, the City of Calgary said that in an unplanned water outage, several steps are taken to keep residents and businesses informed.
If an outage happens, a door hanger is left at each affected address informing them of the outage. They also let them know water wagons are available as a temporary source of water and where they can get updates on the repairs. If it happens between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m., the City of Calgary said a crew member will attempt to speak with the resident. If it happens after 10 p.m., the door hanger is left at the front door.
Citizens are welcome to speak with crew members at a site about the repairs.
If the water is to be shut off overnight, the City said that crews go door to door to offer recreation passes to a local City of Calgary facility. Further, if at least 17 addresses are impacted by a water outage, an email is sent to the ward councillor to ensure they are aware of the outage.
“For a planned outage, affected residents and businesses are provided with a customer notice in advance of the project, and a door hanger is left at each address the day repair work begins,” the City of Calgary response read.
“There is a project currently underway to review communications during outages, and to update calgary.ca/wateroutages with more in-depth, more meaningful, and timely information.”
If approved on technical merit, the Notice of Motion would be debated at a full meeting of Calgary city council.
