Calgary's water supply in 'vulnerable state' while work to restore service enters vital stage

Calgary's mayor issued an urgent call Friday for residents to slash their water consumption, warning the city's water usage a day earlier had spiked to its highest level since the crisis began.

During her morning briefing on the status of the city's key water feeder main, Jyoti Gondek said Calgary's water supply is still vulnerable, noting that usage had spiked to 500 million litres on Thursday.

That message was repeated at an afternoon update when Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said the city is in a "vulnerable state."

"Our daily water use increased in a very significant way yesterday, we need to remain under the threshold of 480 million litres per day," she said.

"While a small portion of this increase, about seven million litres, can be attributed to the filling of the feeder main, it's imperative to emphasize that the system providing water to Calgary remains at risk."

WATCH | City officials update Calgarians on the developments of the feeder main break as water restoration enters a critical stage:

City provides update on water main break

2 months ago

Duration 25:35

City officials provide update on the major feeder main break affecting Calgary's water supply.

The Bearspaw south feeder main a large pipe that carries the majority of Calgary's treated water from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant to the rest of the city ruptured three weeks ago.

Its rupture led to outdoor water restrictions, with the city also urging residents and businesses to cut back on their own use to maintain enough water for emergencies, such as fighting fires and use in hospitals.

The city has continued to urge Calgarians to reduce their water consumption 25 per cent by taking shorter showers, flushing their toilets less often, doing laundry less frequently, among other things.

Since restrictions began, bylaw officers have had 2,896 water related calls that led to 904 verbal warnings and 18 violation tickets.

There have been 286 calls regarding the fire ban with 98 verbal warnings and six violation tickets handed out.

Critical steps to restore water ongoing

The city has outlined that while repairs to the line are complete, there are still four final stages crews must complete before the system is back to normal.

That includes filling the feeder main, flushing the pipe, stabilizing the system and testing water quality.

Crews continued work on those steps Friday, said City of Calgary water services director Nancy MacKay, adding flushing, the first of the four steps, is expected to be finished this evening.

The second step of flushing the pipe should begin later on Friday night once the feeder main has been filled.

"We have entered a critical phase of bringing this feeder main back into service," MacKay said.

"The goal is truly to protect public health, ensuring we're delivering clean, safe drinking water as our priority as we connect the pipe that's been repaired to our distribution system."

Officials stated this stage is risky and poses challenges.

To reduce the chance of delays, a contingency plan has been put in place where there are spare parts, pipe material and equipment readily available.

"We have a rapid response plan in place to ensure that staff and contracts can quickly get to the site if required," said Michael Thompson, the City of Calgary's general manager of infrastructure services.

Roads repaved and reopened

On Friday, 16th Avenue N.W. was reopened to traffic, however, some lanes will remain closed to ensure that the feeder main can be monitored and that water testing can go ahead.

Thompson said paving is substantially completed, but the top layer of paving on three of the repair sites will be finished once the feeder main has been brought back into service.

Gondek thanked Calgarians for their efforts through much of the crisis in helping reduce water use, urging them to keep it up until all the work is complete.

"Calgary we have done hard things in the past and we can do hard things now," she said.

"Right now, we need your can-do attitude."

Officials reiterated they are still expecting water to be restored on July 1 and despite the increase in water usage over the last few days and the current situation, Canada Day fireworks will still go ahead as planned.