Water consumption
Yesterday our water usage dropped to 497 million litres, down from 533 million litres on Monday. While this is still above our daily target of 450 million litres, it is encouraging to see more people taking the necessary steps to reduce their water usage. Thank you to everyone who has adjusted their habits and to our neighbours in Airdrie, Strathmore, Chestermere and Tsuut’ina Nation who are also doing their part.
The urgency of these repairs cannot be overstated. We must complete the main repairs now to avoid the risk of another catastrophic rupture over the winter. We have little time to complete this work before winter.
With the main out of service, our water supply from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant is significantly limited. Instead, we rely heavily on the smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant and if we exceed our daily water use target of 450 million litres per day, we risk running out of water. Your efforts to reduce water use are incredibly important to ensure we make the most of our limited water supplies.
We are urging all Calgarians again: if you haven’t started reducing water use, now is the time. We understand this is an adjustment, just like in June, but we need everyone’s cooperation to be able to complete the repairs before winter.
Level 4: Restrictions on outdoor water use
Level 4: Outdoor water restrictions are in place. This means that the use of tap water outdoors is prohibited. Please check that your irrigation systems are turned off. If you need to water your trees or gardens, you can use non-potable water sources such as your water butt, grey water or river water from one of our designated pick-up locations.
Today’s rain is an excellent time to collect water from downspouts and into rain barrels or other containers for use over the next few weeks.
Steps Calgary residents can take to reduce their indoor water use
We ask Calgarians to focus on three actions that will make the biggest difference in reducing water use.
- Limit showering to 3 minutes or less: If you shorten your shower time from five to three minutes, you can quickly save a lot of water. It is even better to shower every two days instead of every day.
- Only run the laundry and dishwasher when they are full: Washing machines are one of the biggest water consumers in your home. In addition to washing full loads, you can reduce the number of loads you do each week by prioritizing the clothes you need for the week.
- Flush toilet only when necessary: Every time you skip a flush, you save six litres of water. That adds up. If we skip a flush every day, that 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.
For more tips on saving water, see calgary.ca/savewaterEvery little bit counts and helps us manage our limited water supply.
Construction update
We continue to make progress with construction. Yesterday we shut down the Bearspaw South Feeder Main and began draining it. We expect to complete this process by the end of today.
We have now uncovered three sections of pipe at two repair sites on 33 Avenue NW. Excavations are also underway in Shouldice Park and will last all day.
As the pipe segments are exposed, our teams assess their condition to confirm that our planned repair method is appropriate. We have contingency plans in place should a different repair method be required. Once everything is confirmed, we begin preparing the pipes for encasing with reinforced concrete and concrete.
Over the next two weeks, we will focus on the construction sites along 33 Avenue NW and in Shouldice Park. Additional sections of pipe will be exposed for repair throughout the week.
We have also begun contacting businesses and residents along 16 Avenue NW to keep them updated on the work. Next week we will begin urgent repair work on 16 Avenue NW and will provide further details on construction plans later this week.
We are pleased to announce that the westbound lane of 16 Avenue NW at 43 Street NW has reopened as of noon today due to ongoing construction.
We are optimistic that water usage will continue to decrease tomorrow thanks to the continued efforts of Calgary residents and our regional partners. It is critical that we all continue to conserve water through September while the main is out of service. We will be closely monitoring our water usage and system performance and are working around the clock to complete repairs as quickly and safely as possible.
