Hi everyone, Mark Iype in Edmonton today.
The good news? Calgary officials said Tuesday that crews have located the problem with the broken feeder main pipe and removed the compromised section. The new section of concrete pipe is set to arrive, they added.
The bad news? It looks like it could be another week before Calgarians can go back to blissfully bathing, washing their cars and watering their lawns.
Mayor Jyoti Gondek said residents need to keep limiting their water use because the installation of the new section and getting the treated water system back up and running at full capacity could take a week.
“Everything you’re doing matters for all of us,” Gondek said at a news conference.
It’s been nearly a full week already of voluntary and mandatory water rationing.
Nancy Mackay, the city’s director of water services, said the new section of pipe will be installed over the next two days, but it could then take up to three days to flush the system. Then, filling the pipe and conducting water quality testing could take another two days.
“We do not have a date for the restoration of the service,” she said. “However, based on the information we have now, I expect to be able to share a closer date mid-next week.”
The pipe, known as the Bearspaw South Feedermain, fractured last Wednesday. Almost two metres in diameter at its widest, it normally services water for 60 per cent of the city, as well as residents in Airdrie, Chestermere and Strathmore.
Since then, the city has imposed a mandatory ban on outdoor water use, such as watering lawns and washing windows, while urging Calgarians to voluntarily reduce home usage by reducing toilet flushes, laundry and dishwasher use.
In a city not unfamiliar with water issues (flooding and drought), these restrictions could prove taxing if the deadline for getting back to normal keeps getting pushed back.
While social media have seen reports of some people flaunting their liberal water use, thumbing their noses at requests by the city to conserve, officials say most residents have been complying.
However, since last Thursday, the city has issued 993 notices, including 249 written warnings, 321 verbal warnings and one ticket.
Although there may be one person who would be OK with a little more rationing.
On Monday, five-year-old Alexander Aubichon told The Globe’s Carrie Tait the last time he had a bath was never.
A bit of an exaggeration, according to his mother, Rebekah Mahar, who said the last day Alexander and his little brother bathed was before the pipe broke. She said it was probably time.
“It seems like they haven’t noticed,” she said. “We’re probably going to have to do a bath with just a short amount of water tonight. It is kind of getting to that point.”
I’m sure she’s not alone.
With files from the Canadian Press
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.