The City is preparing to undertake urgent repairs of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main later this month to maintain the health and stability of Calgary’s water system. Although The City completed repairs to the five sections of the pipe that needed urgent repairs in June, recent analyses from acoustic monitoring and PipeDiver results of the full 11 kilometres of the pipe revealed several new locations that need urgent repairs. Some of these new locations are places we’re concerned the pipe is at risk of breaking in the near term, so we need to act quickly with repairs and are making plans to begin within a few weeks. Others will be addressed in our medium- to long-term pipe rehabilitation plans.
We anticipate this near-term work to begin August 26 and run through most of September (2-3 weeks). We are in the process of finalizing these dates and will share the exact timing when we have it.
Benefits of Immediate Action
The timing of these repairs is very important to managing our water supply through the winter. Calgary is a big city on two small rivers. When the feeder main is out of service for repairs, we get most of our water from the Glenmore Reservoir (Elbow River). We need to act now so that we can be done the repairs in time for river flows to refill the Glenmore Reservoir so that there is enough water for later in the fall and winter when we draw on it heavily. We also need to minimize the risk of the feeder main breaking unexpectedly in winter when we would not be able to refill the reservoir because river flows are too low. This could put our water supply at risk within a matter of weeks.
Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions and Indoor Water Conservation
To address these new locations, we will need to stop flow through the feeder main again and will be relying very heavily on the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant for most of our water while the repairs are completed. During this time, we know that we will not be able to supply enough water to meet normal demand.
Unfortunately, this means we need a temporary return to Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions on August 26 and asking Calgarians to limit their indoor water use like we had in June. Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions bans all outdoor water use including:
- Watering lawns, gardens, flowers, trees, and shrubs using city water.
- Washing down any outdoor surfaces, including exterior building surfaces, windows, sidewalks, driveways, or walkways of any sort unless your business requires it for health and safety reasons.
- Filling outdoor decorative features, fountains, pools, or hot tubs.
- Using water for construction purposes such as grading, compaction, or dust control.
We will also be asking residents and businesses to reduce their indoor water use by 25 per cent to make sure that we have enough water to meet essential needs until the repairs are complete.
To support businesses during these Stage 4 Outdoor Water Restrictions, The City will be reopening non potable river water pick up locations with designated hours for businesses and residents. We also anticipate a fire ban will be implemented to mitigate fire risk during a time of critical water supply.
Until these repairs begin, Calgary remains in Stage 1 Outdoor Water Restrictions.