As water restrictions remain in place in Calgary amid ongoing supply concerns brought on by a massive water main break last week, a boil water advisory issued for the Bowness neighbourhood was lifted on Monday night.
You can read more about the boil water advisory being lifted further down in this article.
Earlier in the day, the city’s mayor thanked residents for listening to calls to conserve water.
“Calgarians, you have been incredible in cutting your water usage,” Jyoti Gondek said as she delivered a statement just after 8:30 a.m.
Gondek revealed that Calgarians used 457 million litres of water on Sunday, down from about 650 million litres on Wednesday. Around 440 million litres were used on Saturday.
She said the typical water consumption for this time of the year is around 580 million.
“You can see that you’re using much less,” Gondek added. “Keep this up.”
She said the supply currently available to Calgary is about 620 million litres but reminded Calgarians the city needs to have extra supply so firefighters can do their jobs and in case of emergencies or unforeseen situations.
She reminded Calgarians that some simple ways to reduce water are to take shorter showers and to flush toilets less frequently.
“Even with a slowly recovering supply like we have, we are not close to what we typically need at this time of the year,” Gondek said at an afternoon news conference. “If we don’t stick to using less water, the reality is that we may run out of water.
“You could end up turning on a tap and nothing will come out. That is the reality. It’s not a scene out of a movie anymore.”
The water main break occurred in the Montgomery neighbourhood on Wednesday and resulted in a boil water advisory being issued for the neighbouring community of Bowness. As a result of the break, Calgarians were asked to stop using water outdoors and do their best to minimize indoor water use.
City officials have described the broken feeder main as a “critical water transmission line.” They note the damage has “severely impacted” Calgary’s water supply and the ability to move water across the city and have warned that without conservation efforts from Calgarians, supply may not be able to meet demand.
On Sunday night, the city provided an update and said crews continue “efforts to repair a large feeder main break near 16th Avenue and Home Road Northwest.”
“Work is progressing well, and crews are moving closer to replacing the damaged area of pipe,” city officials said in a news release. “Today (Sunday), crews succeeded in cutting into the pipe so the damaged portion can be removed. The pipe will be prepped for repair, while completing many technical tests to understand what other work is needed.
“This is a very critical stage and will take some time to complete. Today, a section of pipe was removed near the break, and this is the first step to remove the compromised sections of the pipe which we aim to complete by the end of the day.”
City officials said that after an assessment is complete and crews have all the parts necessary to complete the repair, they will then start installing the new section and completing the welding.
“I want to assure you that our crews, engineers and team members are working around the clock to get this work done,” said Nancy Mackay, the City of Calgary’s water services director. “We know this is incredibly challenging for residents.”
Mackay also spoke on Monday about a different water main break on 32nd Avenue and Bowness Road Northwest. It is not related to the feeder main break.
“Small breaks are not unusual,” she said. “Typically, we see 200 main breaks over the course of an entire year in our distribution and transmission system.”
Chris Huston, the manager of Calgary’s drinking water distribution system, said crews are doing “difficult-to-access maintenance work” while fixing the pipe.
A repair plan has been drafted and a timeline will be finalized in the next few days.
Boil water advisory lifted for Bowness
On Monday evening, Alberta Health Services said it had lifted the boil water advisory for Bowness after confirming that “satisfactory water quality” has been restored to the neighbourhood.
A news release issued at 7 p.m. said the advisory was being lifted effective immediately and all residents in the community can return to normal water consumption practices.
However, AHS reminded residents and businesses that Stage 4 outdoor water restrictions are still in place for Calgary.
“Residents with health concerns can contact Health Link to speak with a registered nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week, toll-free at 811,” the health authority said.
In a post on social media, Gondek said a temporary workaround was found that allowed drinking water to return to Bowness homes while repairs on the feeder main continue.
For the latest updates from the City of Calgary, you can follow the city’s social media channels or click on its website here.
For the latest Alberta Emergency Alerts, you can click on the province’s website here.
For more information on boil water advisories, you can visit the Alberta Health Services website by clicking here.