Calgary could still be on track to see some water restrictions lifted this week after making good progress stabilizing the major feeder main that burst more than 40 days ago.
In an update Tuesday afternoon, officials said another pump has been turned on at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant to increase the flow to the pipe — and so far, so good.
“We have not detected any issued within the pipe that may halt our progress,” says director of capital priorities and investment Francois Bouchart. “This is good news in our path to stabilizing the pipe at 70 per cent of water flow.”
Bouchart said the city was still on track to make a potential move from Stage 3 to Stage 2 water restrictions on Thursday.
Calgary has been under Stage 3 water restrictions since Saturday, July 6, which allows for things like hand watering from a watering can or other container, watering new sod or grass seed, and water use for construction purposes and home renovation projects.
However, exceptions were made to allow for the filling of pools last week due to record-breaking heat. The city is getting hit with another prolonged heat wave this week.
Stage 1 and 2 water restrictions allow for use of sprinklers outside, filling outdoor pools, and hose and hand watering.
Last week, three snaps were found in different segments of the feeder main pipe. Officials explain the wire coils hundreds of times around each 16-foot segment of pipe, so a single snap isn’t a sign that a new break in the pipe is imminent, but it does provide information about how the pipe is responding to pressure.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no other wire snaps had been found along the feeder main.
Cost of water main repairs
The total cost of repairing the feeder main may be tens of millions of dollars.
The city’s Chief Administrative Officer David Duckworth floated the estimate at a council meeting on Tuesday.
Coun. Sonya Sharp says she isn’t surprised at the figure and said council will be the ones held accountable for making decisions on how to move forward with the repairs.
“We’re talking about critical infrastructure that provides water to our city,” she says. “It’s nice to hear that we are estimating high, and then you maybe come in low.”
Sharp says the costs of the repairs have to be transparent and will hopefully come out in the third-party report.
Council was expected to examine the potential of a third-party review into the break on Tuesday. Mayor Jyoti Gondek promised the review weeks ago, attempting to find out how such a massive failure could cripple Calgary’s water system.
With files from Lauryn Heintz