Water pressure was successfully raised at the Bearspaw feeder main, and no issues were detected in the pipe, the City of Calgary’s director of capital priorities and investment, Francois Bouchart, said Tuesday.
The move comes more than a month after a catastrophic break of the key feeder main in the city’s northwest.
Earlier this week, the city said Calgary is moving cautiously toward Stage 2 water restrictions by bringing online another pump at the Bearspaw feeder main. The city’s aim is to ratchet down to Stage 2 restrictions by Thursday.
“Water flow has increased, and as of this afternoon, we have not detected any issues within the pipe that might halt our progress,” Bouchart said in his update Tuesday.
“Things are going smoothly so far.”
For now, the city remains under Stage 3 outdoor water use restrictions, meaning Calgarians can water their gardens and outdoor plants, but only using handheld containers or buckets.
Some relief for irrigation companies
Bouchart added the city has expanded the scope of what is allowed under Stage 3 outdoor water restrictions to include the maintenance of irrigation systems.
“This means that irrigation companies can now run water through the pipes of in-ground sprinkler systems if they are fixing irrigation lines,” Bouchart said.
“After maintenance is completed, property owners must follow the outdoor restrictions that are in place for irrigation systems. We know this doesn’t alleviate the industry’s concerns but we hope it is a step in the right direction that will help them expand the services they are currently able to provide.”
The city used 558 million litres of water on Monday, an increase from Sunday, but still within the limits that the city can provide.
City officials say that although the pipe is full of water, that water is not moving at its normal speed. This keeps the pressure low and reduces stress on the pipe.
The flow through the pipe that replaced the feeder main that broke June 5 on 16th Avenue N.W. is on a path toward 70 per cent of its capacity, according to Bouchart.
With everything going as planned, Stage 1 outdoor water restrictions could go into effect on July 22.