Calgary water restrictions could be lifted on April 2 if all goes well with the Bearspaw South feeder main over the next couple of days.
It will have been just shy of four weeks since the City of Calgary implemented Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions, and officials asked Calgarians and surrounding water users to cut back on their daily water use.
With the repair work on nine segments done, holes backfilled, and re-paving now underway, the City of Calgary began refilling the Bearspaw South feeder main on Friday and completed it on Sunday.
“We are now sampling and testing water to make sure it meets or exceeds regulatory requirements,” said Infrastructure Services GM Michael Thompson.
“These tests take time, and this work is continuing throughout today. Once testing shows that the water is safe, teams will coordinate the opening of valves along the pipe and begin to turn on the pumps at the Bearspaw water treatment plant.”
If all goes as planned, the pumps could begin sending water on Tuesday (March 31). Thompson said once the pumps are turned on and people start seeing that water, it may appear cloudy. He reassured water users that the water is safe to drink and that turbidity will clear up in 24 to 48 hours.
“Once the pumps are on, we will monitor the pipe to ensure it is stable. If any issues arise, we will stop and evaluate the situation,” he said.
“If everything is going well, water restrictions could lift as early as Thursday, April 2.”
Previously, Thompson had said they would monitor the pipe through acoustics and listen for potential wire snaps and other indicators that there was an emerging situation.
“As we did in January, we are taking extra precautions in the areas nearest to the pipe. This is out in an abundance of caution and intended to mitigate potential risk to the community,” he said.
Thompson said that as a part of the ongoing inspection program, they will be inspecting the steel feeder main coming out of the Bearspaw feeder main. That’s expected to happen from April 9 to 11.
Should they find something that needs to be dealt with, it may result in a temporary return to water restrictions, Thompson said. There will be additional repair work later this year, and a need to connect the new pipe to the existing water system.
“However, as we have experienced, the pipe can break without warning. Until the new pipe is operational in December, we will be living with the risk that this existing pipe can break at any time,” Thompson said.
Water use did pop up to 500 million litres on Sunday, but Mayor Jeromy Farkas still applauded Calgary and area water users for their efforts to date. That amount did include 12 million litres from the Bearspaw water treatment plant, so the net use from the Glenmore plant was 488 million litres.
“A look through the window outside reminds all of us just how challenging a Calgary spring can be when you’re working outside,” he said.
“I want to take this moment to recognize each and every person who has worked on this project. You have the thanks of an entire city as we see the end of the line in sight and we move full steam ahead towards lifting water restrictions.”
