Update July 11: Critical water main break affecting city-wide water usage

CALGARY – Yesterday’s high temperatures saw Calgary's water use increase again to 567 million litres, up from 555 million litres on Tuesday. This was expected during the heat wave. With Stage 3 Outdoor Watering Restrictions in place, our water supply has been able to meet demand. As temperatures cool in coming days, we expect water use to drop slightly.

Our flow through the repaired feeder main remains at 55% of its capacity. Through our monitoring earlier this week, we detected two wire snaps within the water main feeder pipe, and today we detected a third. These occurred in three different places.

These snaps do not mean another break is imminent. The wire coils around each 16-foot segment of pipe approximately 350 times, and the snaps were spread across three locations along the feeder main. The hot spots that were repaired had approximately 50 snapped wires in a single segment of pipe.

However, they do show us that the pipe is under some stress under the current flow rates. To comfortably move to the next stage, we will need to increase the flow of water into the pipe, but we are moving very cautiously, because we do not want to risk another significant break that could set back our progress.

Currently we are completing some maintenance work at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant. We will continue monitoring and stabilizing through the weekend, and then begin to increase pressure to the pipe again next week. If we determine that the pipe can handle the increased pressure, it will allow us to look at moving to Stage 2 Outdoor Water Restrictions.

We are continuing to do acoustic monitoring, and we will be installing additional fibre optic cable that will also be used for ongoing monitoring. We are also awaiting data from the pipe diver device that we deployed last week. We should have that in approximately three weeks and it will give us additional data to help determine next steps.

Full details of what’s allowed in Stage 3 can be found at calgary.ca/restrictions.

Concerns from the Irrigation Association

Lifting indoor water conservation and the move to Stage 3 Outdoor Water Restrictions allowed many industries to resume more normal water use. However, certain industries, including irrigators and landscapers, are still being impacted.

Over the past few days, we have met with the Irrigation Association to hear concerns and to clarify what activities they can continue while current restrictions are in effect. We are committed to continuing to work together to address their concerns.

Keeping Calgarians informed

We are continuing to monitor the situation and will keep sharing developing news and important updates with Calgarians regularly. Please visit Calgary.ca and our social channels to stay informed. You can also sign up to receive City of Calgary Newsroom updates at newsroom.calgary.ca.

Keeping safe and cool during the heat wave

Yesterday, we made an exception to restrictions on all outdoor pools, including backyard kiddie pools. This was done to provide more options for people to stay cool in very warm weather. It was a priority because of the relation to health and safety.

It's important to also keep our pets in mind during this hot weather. Never leave your pet unattended in a vehicle even for a moment in this hot weather.

The City has a map of publicly accessible spaces to help Calgarians and visitors stay cool on hot summer days, as well as safety tips and other resources. Visit our website to learn more at calgary.ca/heat.

With the high temperatures this week, Calgarians may be looking for ways to get a reprieve from the heat. There are many indoor public spaces with air-conditioning such as libraries and recreation centres where you can seek relief from the heat, as well as outdoor spaces such as spray parks and pools. Visit Calgary.ca/sprayparks to learn more.

We are working closely with our social service partners to ensure supports and resources are available to Calgary’s vulnerable populations. The HELP team, bylaw officers and community partners are out working together to be extra vigilant for any people experiencing homelessness who might need extra assistance during this hot stretch.

The City’s vulnerable persons team (formerly PAL) is increasing patrols to known encampments during extreme weather and bringing basic supplies and bottled water to hand out during their welfare checks. Our Transit Public Safety team is also working with community partners to hand out bottled water.