City officials are asking Calgarians to once again brace for Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions, with the aim of keeping water use below 500 million litres per day.
It comes as the City of Calgary is set to connect the new Bearspaw South replacement feeder main to the city water system, work that is expected to take four weeks.
Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions mean no water use outdoors, including flooding for outdoor rinks. The City of Calgary is also asking for voluntary water reduction in households, with residents going back to three-minute showers, running dishwashers and washing machines with full loads, flushing toilets only when necessary and other water-saving activities.
The water restrictions are needed because with the existing Bearspaw line out of service during this time, the City of Calgary will have to rely solely on the Glenmore water treatment plant, which has a comfortable capacity of about 500 million litres of water per day.
Over the past six days without water restrictions, including the Halloween weekend, Calgary’s daily water use has largely stayed below the 500 million litre mark, according to the city’s water demand dashboard.
Still, the City of Calgary is asking citizens to conserve.
“As we have seen before, these simple actions really do add up to the large water savings that will protect our system while our crews work hard to connect this new pipe,” said Michael Thompson, Chief Operating Officer of Calgary’s water utility.
Over the next four weeks, they’ll have to drain the pipe, pump out remaining water, cut open the existing pipe, and then install specially manufactured pieces to connect the new pipe into the system.
“We have to then weld all of that up, finish the construction of those sections, and then backfill that, and then fill and test the quality of the water before we can turn on the existing Bearspaw south feeder main,” he said.
Commissioning of the pipe will take until mid-December, Thompson said, however, they should be able to use the existing Bearspaw pipe during that time.
Calgarians must rally one more time
With the water reductions, the City of Calgary is hoping that they stay out of the risky red zone, putting more pressure on the city’s water supply.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that this was a project that took only 11 months – he called it a significant milestone. Now was the time for the final push.
“We have one final critical stretch ahead of us. We have to get there. We’re going to need Calgarians to come together one more time,” he said.
“I recognize that we’ve been asking a lot over the past couple years Calgarians have been through water restrictions, emergency repairs, disruptions to our daily routines, and a great deal of uncertainty about one of the most essential infrastructure pieces that we rely on.”
The mayor said he knows it’s frustrating to have to go through the water restrictions again. After this, he said Calgary will take a giant step forward in restoring confidence in the city’s water supply.
“There’s still much more work to do to build the resilient water system our growing city needs, but this is a major step forward, and we are so incredibly, incredibly close,” Mayor Farkas said.
“So, my message to Calgarians today is: we’ve come so far together. Let’s finish this together. Let’s make these next four weeks count.”
