City of Calgary officials are expected to provide a timeline on Tuesday for when restrictions on outdoor water use could be lifted. They are also expected to discuss when Calgarians might be able to stop restricting their use of water indoors.
At her daily afternoon update on the ongoing water supply crisis, Mayor Jyoti Gondek spoke on Monday about the ongoing work to restore normal water service after a catastrophic water main break last month.
She said the monitoring of the stabilization phase, the final step of the water restoration process, will continue overnight.
“We’re not at a place yet to lift outdoor water restrictions or the fire ban, but we should know more tomorrow morning about how much longer we will need to continue saving water indoors,” Gondek said Monday.
The mayor’s daily morning update has been pushed from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday in order to give officials more time to analyze information about how the system is performing. Gondek will also be joined by Ric McIver, the province’s municipal affairs minister.
“We still need to keep up water-saving efforts until we know we have the all-clear. We’re so close,” she said on Monday.
The repaired part of the water feeder main that ruptured on June 5 was reconnected to the rest of the distribution network on Sunday.
“We have been slowly increasing the amount of water flowing from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant through the feeder main and into the rest of the network,” said Michael Thompson, the city’s general manager of infrastructure services.
“Right now, the feeder main is carrying about half of its maximum capacity.”
Thompson added that the performance of the water system is being constantly monitored, and there has been no indications of any further problems.
Officials said the increased water flow through the feeder main has caused some turbidity issues, or cloudy water, but assured Calgarians it is safe to drink.
“We are aware some customers are seeing cloudy water when they turn on their taps,” said Francois Bouchart, the city’s director of capital priorities and investment. “This is an aesthetic issue only, and drinking water continues to be safe to consume.”
“While this water is safe to drink, and that turbidity is not unexpected, we want to continue to look at our system’s performance today and overnight tonight,” Thompson said Monday.
Crew performs water rescue
Calgary Emergency Management Agency chief Sue Henry praised one of the crews working on the water restoration process near the Bow River after they saved a group of people who encountered trouble on the water.
Henry said a raft with a large group of people struck a pillar and capsized on Sunday.
Three nearby crew members threw ropes to people in the water and jumped into the river to pull others to safety.
“We simply cannot thank these crew members enough. What they did was nothing short of heroic and inspiring,” Henry said.
“To know that these three crew members — working this emergency situation — jumped into action to help others, is really what makes this a wonderful city and what our country is all about.”