All Calgary water restrictions are lifted, as work on the Bearspaw South feeder main is complete and the line has been stabilized.
The word first came on the City of Calgary’s Bearspaw South feeder main update page at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 2. It’s literally four weeks after work first began on the repair of nine critical segments.
Calgary has been under Stage 4 water restrictions since March 9, as the work was needed to stabilize the existing Bearspaw South feeder main as the replacement line is being built.
“Water is flowing through the Bearspaw South feeder main, the system is stable, and effective immediately, all water restrictions are lifted,” said City of Calgary Infrastructure Service GM Michael Thompson at a Thursday morning news conference.
“As of today, you can resume normal water use. Outdoor water restrictions are lifted and indoor water conservation is no longer needed.”
Thompson said that over the past month, crews installed reinforcing steel, poured concrete, backfilled and paved the roadways. Over the past four days, they’ve refilled the line, tested for water quality and ensured the line was stable. There was also repair work done on valves that weren’t fully operational.
“Surface work is expected to be complete today, and detours will be removed through the weekend. Recreation facilities are returning to normal operations. Hot tubs and kiddie pools are being refilled and will reopen as soon as they’re ready and safe for use,” he said.
Thompson said that while the news is welcome, they can’t guarantee that the pipe won’t break again.
“If another break occurs, water restrictions will once again be required. If there is anything we learned on December 30, it’s how fragile this pipe is,” he said.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas underscored Thompson’s message that the pipe is not reliable.
“Let me be clear, this is not perfect right now. It is about doing the best we can to limit risk, but we cannot eliminate that risk until the new pipe is online,” Mayor Farkas said.
Both Thompson and Farkas thanked Calgary and area water users for largely staying under the 500 million threshold, allowing the work to be completed without any additional problems, including impacting lifesaving efforts for things like firefighting.
They also thanked city business units and construction crews for their work in completing the work in slightly less than the scheduled shutdown time.
“This is the end of the beginning. We still have some journey to go, but together, we’re going to continue to meet this moment,” said Mayor Farkas.
There are additional repairs planned for later in the fall, and there will likely be water restrictions put in place at that time.
