City officials stress water conservation as water main repair timeline updated | CBC News

The problematic section of water supply that ruptured in Calgary is being repaired, but that doesn’t mean the water supply woes will end anytime soon.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, city officials continued to urge residents to limit water use.

Francois Bouchart, director of capital priorities and investments in the city’s infrastructure services department, said “the situation is still critical.”

“Water use is increasing,” Bouchart said during Wednesday’s news conference.

Bouchart said he understands Calgarians may be experiencing warning fatigue, but still, conservation should be top of mind.

He said the main supply main that broke delivers 60 percent of the water we use in the city, so such major repairs take time.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek spoke Wednesday at the city’s regular water outage update and said the city’s water use on Tuesday was up from the day before.

“Preliminary numbers show us that the use of water yesterday was 480 million liters, which is slightly more than the day before,” said Gondek.

“But it’s at the threshold we want to try to maintain. It’s also 100 million liters below our average for this time of year.”

Gondek said the repair plan has three main phases:

• Install the new replacement tube, which will take approximately two days.
• Flush the main part of the feeder, removing any remaining water and sediment, which can take up to three days.
• Fill the pipe and prepare the city network for the water to start flowing again, which will take about two days.

Sue Henry, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), urged Calgarians to redouble their water conservation efforts.

“There is some good news for your gardens and yards this weekend. Nature is stepping up to help us. Rain and cooler weather is on the horizon,” she said.

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Repairs continue

Calgarians can expect water restrictions to continue until the middle of next week.

Nancy Mackay, director of water services for the city of Calgary, said Wednesday that crews have now inspected the remaining 1.8 kilometers of the pipe.

The section of pipe to be replaced is about seven meters (23.5 feet) long.

On Wednesday, Mackay said the pipe had been thoroughly disinfected before it was put in place.

Surrounding cities were asked to conserve Calgary’s water

Calgarians aren’t the only ones being asked to limit their use.

The City of Airdrie is one of the municipalities – like Strathmore and Chestermere – that uses Calgary’s water supply.

Since the water cut, Airdrie’s top 100 water users have been contacted and asked to reduce usage, according to Mayor Peter Brown.

“Everyone has been great so far,” Brown said in an interview with The Eye opener in Calgary Wednesday.

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Brown said his community is under Level 4 water restrictions, so outdoor watering is limited and residents are asked to be aware of their indoor water use. Calgary is under similar restrictions.

He said Airdrie is about halfway through a 20-year water-sharing agreement with the city of Calgary.

“It’s not over yet,” he said. “You have some wonderful people working diligently to fix this.”

In Calgary, Stage 4 water restrictions and a city-wide fire ban remain in effect.

The Calgary Fire Department is allowing some “lower risk hot work activities” for roofing after consultation with the construction industry, according to a news release from the City of Calgary sent out Wednesday.

However, restrictions continue to apply and any work with open flames remains prohibited.

Henry said that, to date, bylaw officers have logged 4,101 calls to 311 specific to the water outage event, 137 of which involved fire suppression.

“Our bylaws are out today in full force to help continue the education approach. There have been 306 written warnings, 368 verbal warnings and one summons issued,” Henry said.

The cause of the break is still unknown, officials say

What still remains unanswered is the cause of the water main rupture.

“There was no indication that the pipe section was stressed,” Bouchart said, noting that the pipe is approximately 49 years into its 100-year lifespan.

“The main supply was operating well within its pressure limits.”

He also said the city installed acoustic monitoring equipment in early 2024 and that the technology gave no indication that the water main was experiencing any problems.

Bouchart said it appeared the metal wires inside the pipe suddenly “snapped”, affecting its structural integrity and resulting in water coming out “like a big event”.

Gondek said the city is still looking for answers as to why and what happened.

“What we can tell you is that there is regular modeling, as we’ve heard, and there was no indication that this was going to happen,” she said.