Calgarians continue to do their part to ensure a safe transition to full service of the recently-repaired 16 Ave. water feeder main break.
Residents eased back into regular indoor water use on the first day of the removal of indoor water conservation recommendations using 478 million litres Tuesday – 20% below our average usage.
“Calgarians and visitors heard our call to ease into doing their indoor usage, not to overwhelm the system - and today we can see our demand remained stable,” said Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry. “Thank you to everyone for helping spread out their water usage. While our system continues to stabilize, we’ll ask you to continue to catch up on your indoor use a little at a time.”
With feeder main repairs complete and water flowing to Calgary homes and businesses from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant, it is slowly being brought back up to full usage with crews monitoring the line each step of the way.
The reintroduction of the feeder main to the system also allows for maintenance work to be done on the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant.
The Glenmore plant worked at full capacity during the 26-day, water feeder main incident. Critical maintenance on pumps and chemical processes at the Glenmore plant are under way and should be completed by the end of the week.
With the impacted feeder main operating at 50% capacity, City staff continue to monitor the pipe as pressure is increased.
Recreation program updates
We have resumed most City services that use water indoors such as pools, ice rinks and recreation centres. Other amenities like hot tubs and steam rooms are expected to open as soon as possible.
Outdoor water restrictions continue
While we are confident that we can currently supply enough water for indoor use, we are keeping Stage 4 outdoor watering restrictions in place, as well as a fire ban. The Glenmore reservoir has been operating at 100 per cent capacity as we’ve been bringing the system back online and we want to reduce the demand placed on it. More information on easing outdoor water restrictions will be shared in the coming days as we determine how the system responds to the increase demands.
Spray parks, wading pools and full street sweeping program remain paused while outdoor water restrictions continue. Updates will be posted on calgary.ca as they become available.
WATER USE
We are aware that some Calgarians are still seeing cloudy water when they turn on their taps. This is not unexpected as a result of reconnecting the Bearspaw South Feeder Main to our water system. This is an aesthetic issue only and rest assured, our drinking water continues to be safe to consume.
BYLAW AND ENFORCEMENT
To date, we have received 11,214 calls to 311 about this emergency. We encourage Calgarians to use the 311 app or calgary.ca/311 to make your service requests.
Since the event began, we have received 3,010 calls for water misuse, the majority of those have been resolved. We have issued 19 violation tickets.
A fire ban remains in effect for The City of Calgary. We’ve received a total of 275 fire pit concern calls. There have been 36 written warnings, 120 verbal warnings and we have issued six violation tickets.
ROADS AND MOBILITY
16 Avenue N.W. is open to traffic in both directions, however some paving work is still required. Speed is reduced along certain areas of 16 Avenue N.W. where feeder main repairs were completed, and we’re reminding Calgarians to expect delays when travelling through the area and to pay attention to signage in the area.
To see up-to-date traffic incidents, cameras or construction please visit calgary.ca/trafficinfo
