The City of Calgary is making another plea for water conservation ahead of next week’s planned shutdown of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main for emergency repairs.
The work will focus on nine sections of the pipe in critical need along 16th Avenue N.W., near Sarcee Trail.
The shutdown of the Feeder Main, which normally supplies about 60 per cent of the city’s water, is scheduled to begin on March 9 and is expected to last four weeks. During that time, the city will rely on the smaller Glenmore Water Treatment Plant for Calgary’s water supply.
“Simply put, we will not be able to get as much water as usual from our plants to your taps. “Our underground storage tanks can hold about a day’s supply of water. If we use that storage up faster than we can refill it. It puts our system at risk,” said Michael Thompson, the city’s general manager of infrastructure services.
“If our demand is too high, we could face situations where we do not have enough water to fight fires. The pressure in our pipes drops too low, which could lead to a city while wide boil-water advisory. Or we have a major failure at our plant or elsewhere in the system and no water is available at all.”
The emergency repairs to the Bearspaw Feeder Main, which are scheduled to start on March 9, will focus on nine critically ill sections of the pipe along 16 Avenue N.W.
Source: City of Calgary
The city is asking residents to help out with reducing the city’s overall water consumption by about 3 per cent per day, or about 25 litres per person. Recommended steps include eliminating all outdoor water use, skipping toilet flushes, reducing showers to three minutes or less and only running dishwashers and washing machines with a full load.
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However, during this round of water restrictions, the city has also slightly raised the total amount of water use it considers sustainable on a daily basis, which it estimated at 485 million litres during the last round of restrictions.
“We’ve learned how to move water more effectively and efficiently through the network. So we’re taking those lessons learned as well as the preparation work that we’re doing and we’ve been able to move that target up to 500 million litres per day,” Thompson said.
“Now, obviously, if we can save water and be below that target, it gives the plant more of a time to rest and for us to do a bit of work in the plant. And so we would really encourage everyone to save as much water as you can. The more we’re under that 500-million litre, target, the better it is for all of us — but 500 million litres will be our new target.”
Thompson said city staff will also be taking steps to conserve water. Measures include washing fire trucks, transit busses and other city vehicles only when necessary for health and safety reasons, adjusting cleaning procedures to conserve water, checking shower heads, toilets and pools for leaks, filling kiddie pools and hot tubs only when required for health reasons, reducing flooding in ice rinks and encouraging city employees to work from home if they can.
“We’re encouraging Calgarians to do absolutely everything that they can in terms of managing their own, water use,” Mayor Jeromy Farkas said. “We’re encouraging employers to take those steps as well.”
Farkas also cautioned that this is one of two planned, shutdowns, with the second taking place in the fall. “But there is nothing to say that the pipe could not unexpectedly break even in the summer months.”
Nicole Newton, the city’s director of climate, environment and ecology, said the city has also been working with the local business community to help them reduce their water use and has further contingency plans prepared “if we are in that risky red, red zone.”
The city plans to begin moving the equipment needed for the repairs into place this week.
The westbound exit from 16th Avenue N.W. onto Sarcee Trail will remain closed.
Some preliminary work, including removing sections of the concrete barrier that divides westbound and eastbound 16th Avenue N.W., will also take place.
The city will also be hosting two drop-in open houses on Thursday and Saturday this week for residents who want to know more about the work that’s being done. Details available on the city’s website.
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