Update Sept. 3: Critical water main repair affecting city-wide water usage

It's been one week since the Bearspaw South Feeder Main was taken out of service for urgent repairs and this has significantly limited our ability to move drinking water across the city. To make the most of our limited water supply, we remain in Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions and are encouraging Calgarians to reduce their indoor water usage while work is underway. 

We’ve been exploring ways to improve water distribution across the city using key learnings from the original break in June. This is incredibly challenging as we have a complex network of over 5,000 km of pipes and multiple underground storage reservoirs where we store treated water.  

Over the past several days, we’ve been testing a new configuration of our existing pumps to redirect water flow. Our team is now confident that this configuration solution is sustainable for the remainder of the repair work, which enables us to move an additional 35 million litres of water through the system each day. This moves our water consumption target up to 485 million litres per day. 

As seen in the graph below, it’s crucial to keep our daily water use in the green zone at 485 million litres and under. 

The yellow zone occurs at a rate of 485 million litres to 500 million litres of water. In this zone we have difficulty replenishing our underground storage reservoirs to ensure we have enough water for essential services like firefighting and hospitals. We also can’t take the pumps offline for maintenance as we are pushing the system to its maximum capacity. 

The red zone occurs at a rate of 500 million litres and above, which is unsustainable and puts us at the greatest risk of running out of water before the feeder main is brought back into service. 

Water use 

Yesterday’s water use was 505 million litres, which is up from 473 million litres on Sunday, and puts us in the red zone. At this rate, we are unable to consistently replenish our underground storage reservoirs. The efforts of Calgarians to reduce water use are incredibly important right now to ensure we are making the most of our limited water supply while the Bearspaw South Feeder Main is turned off for urgent repairs. With high temperatures in the forecast this week, this is especially important as we know that water use typically increases in hotter weather. 

Under Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions, all outdoor water use with City water is prohibited. Many of the 311 calls we are receiving about residential and business watering are related to automatic sprinkler systems still in use. If you have not already done so, please turn off outdoor automatic sprinkler systems. If you need to water your trees or gardens, you can use non-potable water sources like your rain barrel, grey water or river water from one of our designated pick-up locations.  

To enforce Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions, we have increased our presence in communities and are monitoring compliance. As of this morning, we have received 755 reports of water misuse this week, up from 576 reports yesterday. This includes 521 for residential, 107 for commercial/industrial and 60 for multi-family residences. Bylaw officers continue following up on these complaints and will issue tickets where required. As of today, we have issued five tickets for watering outdoors. 

The fine for outdoor water use under Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions is $3,000.  

Construction update  

Construction remains on schedule to be completed by September 23.  

Currently, at sites one through four (in pink) along 33 Avenue N.W. and Shouldice Park, work is actively being carried out on all 12 pipe repair segments. Excavation has been completed at 11 repair segments, with one more to go. All excavations for sites one through four are estimated to be completed today. 

Once excavation is complete, we're moving forward with installing rebar and form work and concrete pouring has already started around some repair segments.  

We're also getting ready to begin work on site five at 33 Avenue and 86 Street N.W., with excavation expected to start today. This is the final site on 33 Avenue N.W.  

Construction on sites 6 through 8 (in orange) along 16 Avenue N.W. is scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 5. To make sure this work is done safely and efficiently, 16 Avenue N.W. will be closed between 46 Street and the Bowness Road interchange starting September 5. Traffic will be redirected to Bowness Road, which will remain fully open in both directions with direct access to 16 Avenue N.W. and businesses. 

Our traffic plan will keep most business driveways open, allow for parking and provide clear directions for customers. Free short-term parking is available throughout the community. We continue to work directly with impacted residents and businesses during the construction period to understand their concerns and we encourage Calgarians to keep supporting Montgomery and Bowness businesses. 

We appreciate the hard work of our crews and the support of Calgarians and our neighboring communities for your ongoing support and water-saving efforts. Your cooperation is vital as we work to ensure a safe and reliable water supply. We’ll be keeping a close eye on our water usage and system performance and are working around the clock to complete the repairs as quickly and safely as possible. For the latest updates, water saving tips and more, visit calgary.ca/savewater.