The City of Calgary has upped its safe water use limit to 500 million litres per day, as it prepares to implement water restrictions for work on the Bearspaw South feeder main.

City officials and Mayor Jeromy Farkas provided an update on work starting on March 9, along with a reminder that water restrictions will go into place at that time.

Reinforcement work will begin on nine segments on March 9, and that requires the city to shut down the old Bearspaw South feeder main for four weeks. In that time, there are outdoor water restrictions in place, and city officials are asking Calgarians to limit their indoor water use voluntarily.

Work will be done concurrently with that of the Bearspaw replacement line, which started construction earlier this year.

“In the meantime, we are still relying on the existing, deteriorated pipe to move most of the water from our Bearspaw water treatment plant. It remains a critical artery of our drinking water system,” said Infrastructure Services GM Michael Thompson.

“We know that the existing pipe can break at any time. We will be living with this risk until the new pipe is completed and in service this December. These reinforcements are designed to support the stability of the existing pipe until the replacement is complete.”

Previously, the City of Calgary asked residents to try to limit daily water use to 485 million litres. Now, that limit is 500 million litres. Thompson said reviewing daily water consumption in the city over the past week, he saw that most days were between 504 million and 515 million litres per day.

“So, our goal of 500 million liters is easily in reach,” he said.

“We just need to reduce our water use by at least three per cent. If everyone takes a few meaningful actions, we can keep our community safe.”

The City would like residents to limit showers to three minutes, have fewer toilet flushes and only run washers and dishwashers with full loads.

What changed between prior water restrictions and now?

Thompson said that they’ve been able to prepare the Glenmore water treatment plant, which will carry the entire water production burden, to deal with the upcoming outage.

“We’re much more comfortable with the state of that plant based on the preparation work that we’ve been undertaking, and the fact that this isn’t the first time we’ve been here. We’ve learned how to move water more effectively and efficiently through the network,” he said.

“Obviously, the less water we use, the better, as it gives us more of a buffer.”

He said there’s concern that with the raised target, Calgarians still won’t hit it.

“We know people don’t want to be here. We know that you don’t want to hear this message again about conserving water. It’s just the reality of where we’re at,” Thompson said.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that this time they’re asking people not only to conserve water but also to communicate it to others. He acknowledged that even during the last break in late December 2025, many Calgarians, despite it being broadcast non-stop across social media, the news, and by word of mouth, didn’t know there were restrictions in place.

“Please talk to your family, talk to your neighbours, share updates with your friends, and my colleagues on city council, and I will be doing everything that we can to amplify this message across every platform available to us,” he said.

Businesses can access information on the City of Calgary’s webpage that provides different water-saving actions they can take.

The concrete reinforcement work is expected to take four weeks, according to the City of Calgary.

Traffic detours will begin being set up this week. The westbound exit from 16 Avenue NW onto Sarcee Trail will remain closed.