Calgary water consumption dips under 500 million litres Saturday

Calgary looks to reduce water use The city is urging Calgarians to reduce water use as repairs on the feeder main reach the half-way point. Tyler Barrow reports.

Calgary water consumption dropped Saturday to 496 million litres, a dip of nine million litres from Friday’s 505 million.

“We are in a yellow zone, which indicates a strained system,” said city spokesperson Carolyn Bowen, Calgary’s director of climate and environment.

“The more water we use,” she added, “the harder it is to refill.”

Bowen said at this point, the city’s Glenmore water treatment plant is producing 70 per cent of the city’s treated water, when usually it produces 30 per cent.

She added that Calgary bylaw officers continue to respond to complaints of water misuse, including 1,273 residential complaints, 262 commercial complaints and 115 multi-family complaints.

Bylaw has issued a total of 26 tickets, with each carrying a fine of $3,000.

Repair work continues as scheduled, with one site already complete and two more scheduled to be completed Sunday.

This is a developing story that will be updated throughout the day.