It’s been two weeks since a catastrophic water main break in northwest Calgary triggered a water supply emergency in the city, and as work to restore normal water service continues, Mayor Jyoti Gondek says citizens are succeeding in their “gold-medal effort” to conserve water.
While delivering an on-camera update on Wednesday morning, Gondek said that thanks to Calgarians’ steps to reduce their usage of the resource, the city continues to have enough supply to ensure firefighters can do their jobs and hospitals have all the potable water they need.
“I want you to know that understanding that we are better when we stick together is the thing that will get us through this,” she said.
Gondek noted Calgarians used about 445 million litres of water on Tuesday, marking the fourth day in a row that usage has not exceeded the threshold set out by city officials.
“Since the start of this water crisis two weeks ago, you have managed to save over 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools (worth) of water,” she said.
The feeder main damaged on June 5 is crucial for moving water around the city. Because of the water supply crisis, residents of Calgary and several nearby municipalities were issued a ban on outdoor water use, which remains in effect. They have also been asked to conserve water indoors. A fire ban remains in effect in Calgary, which was brought in to reduce the amount of water that firefighters may need to use.
On Friday, officials announced that in addition to the damage originally found on the feeder main, five more “hot spots” had been discovered that required repair. All the pipes are now in Calgary for crews to work with.
Gondek explained Wednesday that she has had some questions about why two of the pipes were being procured from California.
“The issue is the size of this pipe,” she said, explaining that pipes traditionally used in the oil and gas sector are not the right size for this work. Gondek also noted that the San Diego County Water Authority had the pieces ready and the City of Calgary wanted to resolve the water crisis as quickly as possible.
“We focus on local options first,” she added.
On Friday, city officials announced they expect a three- to five-week timeline for the resumption of regular water service. Once all repairs are complete, the city will still require several days for flushing water and testing the water in the system.
Gondek said she and other officials will hold a news conference from the city’s Emergency Operations Centre at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday to provide Calgarians with the latest updates on the situation.
For the latest updates from the City of Calgary, you can follow the city’s social media channels or click on its website here.
For the latest Alberta Emergency Alerts, you can click on the province’s website here.
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