Mayor says updated water main repair timeline is a ‘best-case estimate’

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Thursday the timeline to complete the work needed to repair a water feeder main — which suffered a catastrophic break on June 5 and disrupted the city’s water supply — will come into sharper focus as repair work continues. 

A day earlier, city officials suggested repairs could move quicker than previously expected.

“This is a best-case estimate at this particular point in time,” said Gondek at her public briefing Thursday morning.

  • City officials are set to provide an update on the ongoing water situation at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Watch it live here or on the CBC Alberta YouTube channel.

“It means that work could be done as soon as July 5, which is exactly three weeks since we discovered and reported that there were five hot spots that needed to be addressed.” 

Wednesday marked two weeks since the critically important Bearspaw south feeder main suffered a rupture. Since then, Stage 4 water restrictions on outdoor water use were enacted alongside a citywide fire ban.

Various city services — such as street sweeping, pools and recreation centres — also remain disrupted.

a sandwich board sign on green grass reads "mandatory outdoor water restrictions in effect"
As of Wednesday afternoon, the total number of calls to the city’s bylaw service regarding outdoor water restrictions and the fire ban had reached over 7,200. (Helen Pike/CBC)

Water usage ‘well below’ threshold for 5th day in a row

Water conservation remains top of mind for the city.

Gondek says that, on Wednesday, Calgary and the surrounding communities that draw from its water supply used 454 million litres of water, marking the fifth consecutive day of remaining “well below” the 480 million litre usage threshold for safety.

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