Calgarians and surrounding areas continue saving water as Bearspaw South Feeder Main reinforcement work hits major milestone

Yesterday’s water use was 483 million litres, putting us in the green zone for the second day in a row, thanks to the dedicated, water-saving efforts of Calgarians and our neighbours in Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation.

Today marks a milestone in our reinforcement work on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main. We are now entering the stage where we are preparing to refill the pipe and move through the necessary steps to bring it back in service.

Construction update

We have now successfully backfilled all nine reinforced pipe segments and crews are preparing to repave the sections of roadway we excavated.

Tomorrow, we will begin the process of slowly refilling the feeder main, which will use about 22 million litres of water over two to three days. This extra water will come from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant, so while our overall daily water demand will look higher during the refill, it will not place additional demand on the Glenmore Plant.

We are filling the pipe slowly to help prevent pressure spikes and monitor closely for any signs of issues with the pipe.

When refilling is complete, we will collect and test water samples at our lab. This step takes time. Once the water is confirmed safe, we can start reconnecting the feeder main to the rest of our water system.

We know people are eager to learn when water restrictions will be lifted. We do not have an exact date yet, but we will have more to share next week.

Community impacts

There is no guarantee the pipe will not break again, so we are working with the most impacted communities to help them understand what another break could mean and how to prepare. Today, we are sharing information directly with residents in Montgomery and Bowness, and we will keep these communication channels open until the new pipe is operational in December.

Traffic impacts

Lane closures are still in place while crews finish work and repave excavation sites. Next week, there will be an additional lane closure along 16 Avenue N.W. near 44 Street for construction related to the new replacement pipe.

Thank you for your patience. Please plan ahead, follow posted signage and give our crews the space they need to work safely.

Continue to save water

Although we are making good progress, we still need your help saving water until the pipe is back in service. We continue to ask everyone to save 25 litres of water per person, per day, by:

• Flushing toilets only when needed.
• Keeping showers to three minutes or less.
• Running dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.

Your daily actions are especially critical to help us maintain enough capacity in our system to safely manage the refill and respond to unexpected issues or emergencies.

Stay informed

We are closer to the end, but we are not there yet. Over the next few days, we will move carefully and deliberately to keep the system stable as we refill the pipe. Your continued water saving helps our crews complete this work as quickly and safely as possible, so let’s keep our green streak alive!

For the latest updates, practical tips and resources for residents and businesses, visit calgary.ca/savewater.