Calgary water main break repair to take at least 5-7 days

Article content

While Calgarians’ water use has dropped significantly, it’ll be at least another five to seven days before normal service is restored as crews work to repair a crippled water main, city officials said Saturday morning.

Calgarians are now using as much water as is becoming available, or about 25 per cent less than their normal consumption, said city officials.

Article content

But that’s leaving the city’s water supply situation on a knife’s edge and one that won’t be fully relieved for at least another five to seven days, or until a two-metre-diameter feeder main is fully repaired and flushed out, they said.

“We asked you to do a little bit extra to save water and I’m thrilled to say you’re listening and are stepping up,” said Calgary water services director Nancy Mackay.

“This puts our supply at a more sustainable position — that being said, we need to keep this work up,” she said. “There is still a high risk we can run out of water if we don’t continue (rationing).”

Water use fell Friday to 480 million litres, down from 610 million litres which was outstripping supply, she said, adding they’re hoping to maintain that lower level of consumption.

Feeder main break cut Calgary’s water supply by 40%

The rupture occurred Wednesday evening near 16th Avenue and Home Road N.W. on a critical water transmission line. Known as the Bearspaw South feeder main, the pipe is 11 kilometres long, as wide as two metres and is used to transport water across the city. The pipe typically delivers water to more than 1.2 million customers in Calgary, while also transporting water to Airdrie, Chestermere and Strathmore.

Article content

Article content

With its loss, the supply of water to the city dropped by 40 per cent and led to Level 4 water rationing, which bans all outdoor water use in addition to a plea for the public to cut back on indoor consumption, along with a boil-water order for residents of Bowness.

On Friday, city crews were able to expose and isolate that catastrophic break while clearing water and earth from the site with hopes of determining the cause and begin removing the broken pipe, said Chris Huston, the city’s manager of drinking water distribution.

“We’re making good progress but it’s important to know it’s complex and it’ll take some time to get back in service, at least another five to seven days until the situation is resolved,” said Huston.

He said it’s still not clear what caused the catastrophic break in the 49-year-old section, adding much older pipes haven’t failed.

“We weren’t expecting something like this to happen, we would have expected this pipe to last a lot longer,” said Huston.

Since the crisis began, city bylaw officers have issued 61 warnings to people misusing water after following up on 300 complaint calls, while responding to 34 calls of outdoor fires, which are also banned to reduce the potential instances of water-intensive fire fighting, the city said.

Article content

So far, no fines have been issued with officers taking an educational approach “but if that warning continues to be unsuccessful, we will move to enforcement action with tickets,” said Henry.

“Every small action you take makes a big difference.”

‘This is not some kind of conspiracy’

While the vast majority of Calgarians are heeding orders and advisories, some are not and are even openly mocking the city’s warnings of a dire water shortage, noted Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

“Keep talking to your family and friends who don’t think this is a serious situation,” said Gondek.

“This is not a joke, this is not some kind of conspiracy, this is a fact. Hospitals, care facilities and schools are counting on us to be able to provide their critical services.”

She said 700 businesses have been contacted to ensure they reduce their water usage.

The more reminders issued about the city’s situation, the better Calgarians’ response has been to do things like reduce toilet flushes, shower times, use of appliances and ensuring taps aren’t running, said the mayor.

Meanwhile, water trucks remain at several sites in Bowness to provide clean water for residents there who’ve been advised to boil their tap water before ingesting it.

BKaufmann@postmedia.com

X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

Article content