‘Not out of the woods yet’: Calgarians asked to continue conserving water

Calgary officials say the city’s water system remains under strain as crews continue work to restore a critical feeder main following a major break in the northwest.

“As we work to return the feeder main to service, we’ve implemented a community protection plan,” Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief Susan Henry said during a news conference Saturday afternoon.

“This plan is focused on protecting the neighbourhoods along the Bearspaw South feeder main and ensuring we’re prepared in case of an additional break while the line is returning to service.”

Henry said progress is being made but conservation remains essential.

“Yesterday, water use was at 504 million litres. That’s trending in the right direction,” she said. “Four hundred and 504 million litres still means our system is under strain.”

The goal remains to stay below 485 million litres per day.

Henry stressed that total daily usage matters more than timing.

“It is not the time of day that you use that water,” she said. “This 485 million litres is the amount that our system needs to operate safely, refill overnight and maintain our emergency reserves.”

She urged residents to reduce daily water use by 25 to 30 litres per person.

“Flushing even three fewer times a day can make a huge difference.”

In a post on its website, the city added other recommendations, like running dishwashers only with full loads and reducing time spent in the shower. “Every one minute you save in the shower saves up to 8 liters of water,” the website reads.

“This may seem like small, everyday actions, and they are, but when 1.7 million people do them, the impact is incredible,” Henry said.

“If you live in Calgary, in Cochrane, Strathmore, Airdrie or Chestermere, this impacts you,” she added. “Calgary’s drinking water system is fully interconnected.”

Infrastructure services general manager Michael Thompson said repair work is progressing well at the site along 16 Avenue Northwest.

“City and contractor crews have completed backfilling the site, and we’ve started repairing the road above the pipe,” Thompson said. “We have been slowly refilling the feeder main with water.”

He said refilling the seven-kilometre pipe requires about 22 million litres of water.

“It takes approximately 22 million litres, or the equivalent of nine Olympic swimming pools full of water,” Thompson said.

Mayor Jeremy Farkas said the city is moving quickly to address long-term infrastructure concerns.

“If you’re looking for accountability, the bus stops with us,” Farkas said. “We are taking the needed actions here and now to solve this, not just for next week or next month, but to solve Calgary’s water system with a generational fix for the next 100 years.”

According to the City of Calgary website, the water system “remains in a vulnerable position as continued high water use puts the community at real risk should an emergency arise.”

In a post on X, the city said water use on Friday reached 504 million litres, “which is 19 ML above the sustainable level of 485 ML,” adding that the distribution system remains under strain.

Mandatory Stage 4 water restrictions remain in place until the feeder main is fully restored and the system stabilized.

For more information, officials are asking the public to check the City of Calgary website for updates.

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