For the third time in less than two years, Calgarians are being asked to be mindful of their water use as the city begins reinforcement work on a major water main.
The Bearspaw South Feeder Main shut down Monday for the project, which is expected to last roughly four weeks.
City officials say pumps at the Bearspaw water treatment plant were shut off Monday and valves to the pipe have been closed to isolate it from the rest of the system. City crews are now working on draining water from the pipe before repair work can begin.
“During the next four weeks, we will be reinforcing a total of nine pipe segments — six on 16th Ave. NW near Sarcee Trail and three at Point McKay Park,” explained Ryan Kidd, the city’s deputy director of drinking water with Water Services.
“Once the pipe is exposed, crews can start working on the concrete reinforcement. This will involve constructing an exterior reinforcing steel cage, then pouring concrete around the existing pipe.”
Excavation work is set to begin Tuesday, which has prompted road closures and detours near the work sites.
According to city officials, lane reductions are in place on 16 Avenue near the Sarcee Trail interchange and westbound exits to and from Sarcee Trail are closed.
The feeder main normally supplies about 60 per cent of the city’s water. During the shutdown, Calgary will rely on the smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant, which is operating at maximum capacity, for water.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to start saving water for the next four weeks, said the city’s director of Climate and Environment, Nicole Newton.
“We all need to pull together to keep our water use below 500 million litres a day. If we stay in the green zone below 500 million litres a day, our water system will be able to meet demand.”
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The city added that if it exceeds that daily limit, Calgary will be put at increased risk of insufficient water to fight fires, low water pressure and potential boil water advisories and/or system failure resulting in no water.
It’s the second time in little more than two months that Calgarians have been forced under water restrictions due to the maligned pipe in the city’s northwest.
A significant break in the pipe on Dec. 30th left Calgarians under similar restrictions for more than two weeks as crews rushed to repair the breach.
At that time, the city was aiming for 485 million litres or less to be used by Calgarians and those in surrounding communities each day.
“This is really a wake up call and a lesson learned, not just for Calgary but for the whole country, of what’s at stake when our infrastructure is aging and is starting to deteriorate,” said Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.
Recommended steps to limit water use include skipping toilet flushes, reducing showers to three minutes or less and only running dishwashers and washing machines with a full load.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas says putting the water savings in perspective could help Calgarians band together, although this period of water restrictions is different than the first time it happened in the summer of 2024.
“The primary challenge is that our region serves about 200,000 more people today than it did two years ago,” Farkas explained. “The margin for error is that much less. But in our case, the silver lining is that we only need a 3 per cent reduction (in water use).”
City officials noted there is no guarantee the pipe won’t rupture a third time even after the repairs are complete.
According to Kidd, the repairs are meant to stabilize the feeder main until its replacement pipe is complete.
Construction on the first phase of the project is already underway, which will use microtunnelling to install a new steel pipe between the Shaganappi Pump Station and 73 Street N.W. on the west side of the Bow River.
Crews will use an “open-cut” method for the project’s second stage, which runs from 73 Street N.W. to 87 Street N.W., with shovels set to go in the ground in May.
City officials maintain the project will be completed by December.
City opens resource centre during repair project
The city also announced the opening of a dedicated resource centre for residents to access information on the repair work, as well as support and social services.
The dedicated resource centre, located at the Bowness Community Association, is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“This centre is here to support the community through a challenging period,” said John Acheson, leader of Community Integration Services at the City of Calgary.
“If we receive feedback, comments, we are part of the project team, we meet daily to speak with all the great folks at the city working on this project, so we’ll share that feedback with them.”
City officials warn this won’t be the final time Calgarians will need to band together under water use restrictions — another project to tie in the replacement pipe to the existing water network will take place in the fall.
“We have to remember, as we’re going through this frustrating period of stage four water restrictions in Calgary again, that the end is in sight,” Farkas said.
“The light is at the end of the tunnel. We’re almost through this, and we are doing everything we can as a city to get there as quickly as we possibly can.”
— With files from Aaron D’Andrea
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