The City of Calgary is slated to give an update on the water main break affecting the whole city Sunday afternoon.
The city says it will be at 4 p.m. with Calgary’s Emergency Management Agency Chief Susan Henry, Water Services Director Nancy Mackay, and Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
It will be streamed live on the City of Calgary YouTube page.
This comes after Gondek apologized to Calgarians for the communication coming from the city regarding the water crisis.
She also says the city is going to step up its communications with several additions that include daily news conferences, infographics, and clear timelines.
The mayor also took the time to answer some frequently answered questions, which include information on the maintenance of the feedermain, how it is being assessed, the amount of water Calgarians consume on average, and how the feedermain impacts all of Calgary.
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She says Calgarians on average consume 173 litres of water per day or the equivalent of two full bathtubs, and that unofficially, Saturday saw another decrease in water use, going from 484 million to 440 million.
She also says the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant typically supplies 40 per cent of the city to 23 reservoirs, but Calgarians need to consider that it’s doing the work of the Bearspaw Feedermain, which provides for 60 per cent of Calgarians.
“So I want you to imagine if you will if a portion of Deerfoot gets shut down, that would impact the entire city, you couldn’t move along that major artery. This is a similar situation. This feedermain break affects the whole city and surrounding municipalities who rely on us for water because we do not have the means to get the water that’s at the Bearspaw Treatment Plant out into those reservoirs,” Gondek said.
“That’s why the situation is affecting all of us.”
Gondek also says she will be at the Emergency Operations Center at 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. every day until the problem is solved.
Henry said Saturday that fines could be issued this weekend, but it’s not clear if any have been issued at this time. She said 300 calls for water misuse were made to 311, along with 23 open fire ban cases.
A full list of restrictions and bans in place can be found here.
Anyone caught breaking the rules could face fines starting at $3,000. Fines for violating a fire ban range from $500 to $5,000.
This story is being updated with the latest developments. Listen live to CityNew 660.