Update August 29: Bearspaw South Feeder Main repairs

Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions, all outdoor water use with City water is prohibited. The Bearspaw South Feeder Main is turned off for urgent repairs, limiting our water supply. Your efforts to reduce water use are incredibly important right now to ensure we are making the most of our limited water.

If you have an automatic irrigation system, please turn it off immediately. 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.

Despite the rain, our water consumption only dropped by 3 million litres from yesterday, a reduction of less than one percent. We used 494 million litres of water, which exceeds our target of 450 million litres and puts us at risk for depleting our underground storage reservoirs. This could impact our ability to move water from treatment plants to your homes.

To enforce Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions, we have increased our presence in communities and are monitoring compliance and documenting any violations. Since Monday, we've received 148 calls reporting water use concerns, and the fine for outdoor watering under the Water Utilities Bylaw starts at $3,000. Checking and turning off your sprinkler system is a simple but crucial way to help.

We're also working with our high water users in business and industry to ensure they are doing their part. We want to thank everyone, including our neighboring communities, who have already made changes to reduce their water use.

The urgency of these repairs cannot be overstated. We must complete the repairs to the feeder main now to avoid the risk of another catastrophic break over winter and we have a short window to do work. Again, we are appealing to all Calgarians: if you haven’t started reducing water yet, now is the time.

Steps Calgarians can take to reduce indoor water use

Indoors, we’re asking Calgarians to focus on taking three actions that make the biggest difference in reducing water use.

Limit showers to 3 minutes or less: Shortening a shower from five minutes to three minutes quickly adds up to significant water savings. Even better is switching to once every two days rather than daily showers.
Run laundry and dishwashers only when full: Washing machines are one of the biggest users of water inside your home. In addition to running full loads, reduce the number of loads you do each week by prioritizing the clothes you need to get through the week.
Flush toilets only when necessary: Every time you skip a flush you save six litres of water. This adds up. If we each skip one flush every day, it adds up to 8.4 million litres, the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools. You can also collect your shower water to flush the toilet.


Construction update

We are currently working on repairing 21 pipe segments across eight different work sites. This is a complex project that will take time. It’s crucial for everyone to reduce water usage while work is ongoing so that we keep our underground reservoirs full to ensure a stable water supply.

Sites one to four (in pink) include the majority of repairs along 33rd Avenue N.W. as well as Shouldice Park. We have started repair work on these four sites and construction is underway.

We are scheduled to start work on sites five to eight (in orange), located on 16 Avenue N.W. and 33 Avenue N.W. at 86 Street N.W. on September 5.

Feeder main repair areas

We have five stages of repair, which we will be repeating for all 21 pipe segments.

Excavation
Encasing the pipe in concrete
Curing the concrete
Concrete form removal
Backfilling and paving

After backfilling and paving, the system will require flushing, water quality testing and stabilizing to restore water service.

Feeder main repair milestones cropped

We are currently in the excavation phase for sites one to four with an anticipated completion date of September 3.

We are finalizing plans for sites five through eight. On September 5 our crews will start the repair and construction work on 16 Avenue N.W. Our teams have been out in the community speaking to businesses to help them prepare for the construction impacts and to hear their concerns. More details about road closures and detours will be shared in the coming days. Please note, 16 Avenue N.W. will remain open through the long weekend.

We appreciate the hard work of our crews and the patience of the community as we carry out these necessary repairs. 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.