Calgary’s water restrictions close to being lifted, 16th Avenue to reopen

Calgary officials say the city is inching closing to lifting water restrictions, as testing on the repaired water main pipes begins.

Mandatory and voluntary water restrictions were implemented when a major feeder main ruptured in Bowness on June 5, affecting 60 per cent of the city’s water system.

“We are actually very close to be able to lift some of those measures that we asked you to practice to save water inside your homes, but not quite there yet,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Thursday.

City officials said the pipes need to be filled, flushed, tested and then stabilized, before water-saving measures will be eased.

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“Our top priority is to ease indoor water-saving measures. Once we have a sense of how our system is stabilizing, we will address outdoor water restrictions, but until then, they remain in effect,” said Francois Bouchart, the city’s investment director.

The flushing of the pipes will begin Friday and should be completed within the day.

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Bouchart said engineers have to take multiple steps to ensure new pipe that replaced the ruptured one is stable.

This includes pumping millions of litres of water through the 4.5 kilometres of replacement water pipe.

Once the pipe is full, he said, workers will flush it out and send the water to Alberta Health Services for testing.

“There is a risk of more breaks at this stage,” he said.

“So long as the pipe is not back in service, we have exactly the same conditions in terms of our ability to move water and supply water to Calgarians.”

Gondek said the testing process will see water running from city hoses and draining into the Bow River.

16th Avenue reopens

Commuter traffic is beginning to return to normal in Calgary’s northwest, with traffic to begin flowing in both directions along 16th Avenue in Bowness on Friday.

16th Avenue between 45th and 46th Streets reopened on Thursday.

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Calgary’s mayor says a major road is set to reopen on Friday for the first time since a pipe rupture shut it down more than three weeks ago.

Gondek said the new pavement may be a bit bumpy because it hasn’t been levelled but is good enough to drive on.

Officials said there is no current timeline for when city-operated recreational programming, including swimming pools and ice rentals, will be reopened.

— with files from The Canadian Press