City asks residents and businesses to keep up water saving efforts as Bearspaw South Feeder Main work continues

We had a strong start to water savings in week one of planned reinforcement work on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main. Collectively, we kept our use under 500 million litres and in the Green Zone for the first six days.   

On Sunday, our water use was just above that level at 504 million litres. This puts us in the red zone for the first time since water restrictions started. Sundays are often a day with higher use, and a small uptick was anticipated.

Heading into week two, we’re encouraging Calgarians, along with our neighbours in Airdrie, Chestermere, Strathmore and Tsuut’ina Nation, to keep up their water saving actions and help us start a new “Green” streak.

Keep the momentum going

Your daily actions are incredibly important right now to reduce the risk across our system while the Bearspaw South Feeder Main is out of service.

We are asking everyone to continue saving 25 litres of water per person, per day. The most effective actions are simple:

• Flush toilets only when needed.
• Keep showers to three minutes or less.
• Run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.

With three more weeks of work ahead, let’s build on our strong start and begin a new streak in the green zone.

Why conservation matters

Over the past two days, we were reminded why having enough water in our system is so important.

On Friday, a Boil Water Advisory was issued for Spruce Cliff and parts of Wildwood and Rosscarrock. Before the advisory could be lifted, crews needed to flush water through pipes and fire hydrants over several days. In total, the flushing required to clear the system used about two million litres of water. We are happy to report that as of this morning, the Boil Water Advisory was lifted.

Then this morning, crews responded to a major fire in the southeast, that took an estimated seven million litres of water to fight.

Situations like these show why it’s critical to have flexibility in our water system. Because of your strong water‑saving efforts over the past week, our system and underground storage had enough capacity to respond to these two issues while maintaining essential services.

Construction and traffic update

Crews continue to make progress on the planned reinforcement of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, even with challenging weather over the weekend.

We are reinforcing a total of nine pipe segments:

• Six segments on 16 Avenue N.W., near Sarcee Trail
• Three segments in Point McKay Park 

Draining of the pipe is now complete and reinforcement work remains on schedule. Crews have finished excavating the pipe and supports have been installed around all pipe segments. The first two concrete encasement pours began today, with more planned across additional segments this week. The concrete requires two days to set before crews can start backfilling the area around the pipe.

There continue to be active construction and traffic accommodations near worksites. Please plan ahead, follow posted signage and give our crews space to work safely.

Message for businesses

Over the past few days, we have been inspired by the creative and innovative ways many businesses are saving water.

We encourage all businesses to:

• Review operations for unnecessary water use.
• Fix leaks and adjust processes where possible.
• Share water‑saving ideas with staff and customers. 

Thank you again for doing your part to save water. We will continue doing our part to keep water flowing to your taps while we complete this work as quickly and safely as possible.

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