After Calgarians heeded the city’s advice and cut back on their water use on Saturday, the amount of water being consumed took a big jump again on Sunday.
Since the Bearspaw Feeder Main ruptured in late December, the amount of water residents have been using has been consistently above the 485 million litres the city says is a sustainable level.
On Saturday, the city says Calgary used 493 million litres of water, but on Sunday, total water use jumped to 505 million litres.
“We all need to aim to save 25 to 30 litres per person, per day, to make sure that we have the water we need for firefighters, hospitals and homes,” said Sue Henry, the head of Calgary’s Emergency Management Agency during an update on the feeder main repairs on Monday afternoon.
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“Easy ways to do that include reducing the number of times you flush a toilet, taking a shorter shower and running your dishwasher or washing machine only when you have a full load,” said Henry.
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Following the installation of a section of replacement pipe last week, city crews are now in the process of filling the feeder main with 22 million litres of water, which could be completed late Monday.
Testing will then be done to check for any other leaks in the pipe and to ensure the quality of the water is safe for human consumption.
“Once we have completed the testing process and the water is safe to drink, we will begin stabilizing the system, which includes turning on the pumps of the Bearspaw water treatment plant and starting to flow water through the pipe,” said Michael Thompson, general manager of infrastructure services for the City of Calgary.
The city has said the feeder main could be back in operation later this week, but Thompson said increasing the amount of water flowing through the pipe comes with risk.
“We have purchased the repair parts. We have the steel pipe ready. The adapter is ready, should there be another break in this pipe,” said Thompson. “We’ve done tabletop exercises so the crews are ready and they know what to do.”
Once the feeder main is back in operation, Thompson said the city will gradually ease the water restrictions that were put in place following the rupture.
However, he warns additional water restrictions will be needed in the spring and the fall to allow crews to reinforce numerous other sections of the pipe that are at risk of a future break.
“We are waiting until the spring, because that is when the spring snow melt starts and the Elbow River flows into the Glenmore Reservoir are high enough that it can be refilled,” added Thompson.
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