Crews continue to work to repair a major water main break and five other weak spots in Calgary on June 22.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Calgarians are being asked to tighten their water belts once again as further repairs begin on the city’s compromised water main, which first ruptured in June prompting more than a month of extensive indoor and outdoor water restrictions.
Residents have been under some level of water restrictions since June 5 when the Bearspaw South Feeder Main burst, causing an unprecedented water-supply crisis for residents of Calgary and surrounding communities. Most restrictions had been lifted by the start of August when the city announced additional, urgent repairs were needed on the main feeder line.
But the highest level of restrictions returned on Monday, the day before the massive drinking water pipe goes offline to be mended. The use of potable water outdoors is again banned and businesses and residents have been asked to reduce indoor water usage by 25 per cent.
Francois Bouchart, City of Calgary director of capital priorities and investment, said locals need to reduce water usage by more than 100 million litres daily, which is the equivalent of about 2.25 million bathtubs. He urged locals to conserve water by taking shorter showers, skipping flushes and running dishwashers and laundry machines only when they’re full.
The consequences of not doing so could be dire, he stressed.
“It is imperative we begin these repairs now if we do not want to risk another feeder main break over the winter when we would not have the water supply to refill reservoirs,” Mr. Bouchart said at a news conference. “If we don’t reduce our water use and demand exceeds what the system can produce, the underground water storage reservoirs will eventually run dry.”
Roughly 600 million litres of water is used per day in the summer. About 564 million litres was used on Saturday and 656 million litres on Sunday, which Mr. Bouchart said was likely high because of the impending restrictions.
“You’ve already shown your willingness to step up in times of need and rise to the challenge,” he said. “I’m confident that we will all come together as a community to meet our reduction targets.”
A Globe and Mail analysis, conducted after the June rupture, found nearly one-quarter of drinking water pipes in Canada’s largest cities are nearing the end of their lives and have not been maintained or replaced as required. Just this month, homes and streets in Montreal flooded after a similar water main pipe installed in 1985 broke.
The Bearspaw feeder in Calgary, which was built in 1975, will be dug up and reinforced with concrete in problem areas over the coming weeks with water restrictions expected to be in effect until Sept. 23. All city-operated aquatic facilities were closed during the first wave of restrictions, but indoor pools and arenas are allowed to stay open this time.
Calgarian Heather McRae said the timing of restrictions is “incredibly unfortunate” considering many families are returning home from summer holidays and preparing to go back to school and work. She’s worried some people may be unaware of the rules or won’t follow them, whether because of indifference or restrictions fatigue.
“We’ve really made the effort to do the right thing and we just hope that other people will also do the right thing,” said Ms. McRae, who also questioned how targets will be met with pools still open.
“I’m intrigued to see how on Earth we’re going to do it with all of those things still operating and a population that is fully back.”
Brad Goddard, vice-president of business development at Big Rock Brewery, said if there was a convenient time to put the brakes on water usage for breweries, it would be now. He said summer demand will be dwindling soon and Big Rock was able to brew a backlog of fall blends earlier this month.
Big Rock, which is Canada’s largest independent craft brewer, was unable to make up the inventory it lost when Calgary’s water main ruptured in June and forced the brewery to hold back the production of roughly 58,000 cases of product. Mr. Goddard said Big Rock scraped by but the financial toll has not yet been fully realized.