Calgary water use unsustainable on Sunday; enters ‘risky red zone’

A stock photo of a shower. (Unsplash/Tanner Marquis)

The City of Calgary says water use climbed into the ‘risky red zone’ on Sunday as work to fix the Bearspaw South feeder main continued.

The problematic pipe has suffered two catastrophic breaks since June 2024, both prompting long-lasting water restrictions.

The ongoing work, which started March 9, will see nine segments of the pipe that are experiencing enhanced deterioration repaired.

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The reinforcements are intended to support the feeder main until a new parallel steel pipe is completed and can take over service from the current line.

Speaking at a Monday news conference, Michael Thompson, general manager of infrastructure services for the city, said Calgary used 504 million litres of water on Sunday, slightly higher than the target of 500 million.

“Sundays are often higher-use days as people do laundry and cleaning and get ready for the week ahead,” Thompson said.

It was the first time since water restrictions were implemented that Calgary exceeded the 500-million-litre goal.

“One day in the red does not undo the excellent work we all did through last week,” Thompson said.

He encouraged Calgarians to continue reducing their water use, saying it’s important to preserve water in order for the city to safely handle “unplanned issues.”

As an example, he pointed to an unexpected water line break on private property on Friday and a fire on Monday morning.

“We estimate that about seven million litres of water was needed to fight this fire,” he said. “These are the kinds of situations that make it so important that we have a sufficient supply of treated water in our underground storage tanks.”

Water restrictions remain in place

The city is asking Calgarians to cut consumption by taking the following actions:

• Keep showers to three minutes or less;
• Flush toilets only when necessary; and
• Only run dishwashers and washing machines when there is a full load.

Work is expected to last another three weeks.

Mayor Jeromy Farkas says construction is on schedule.

“We will get through this, and we’ll come out the other side with a stronger, more resilient water system for generations to come,” he said.

Another set of water restrictions is anticipated in the fall as the final stage of work is completed.

Regular updates can be found online at Calgary.ca.