Feeder main repairs complete, but Calgary remains under water restrictions

Crews are now filling the repaired Bearspaw feeder main, which means restrictions are still in effect. Mason DePatie reports.

Another chapter of Calgary’s water main saga is approaching its end, as crews begin refilling a fixed pipe along 16 Avenue N.W.

Construction teams have now completed all nine of the necessary repairs to the Bearspaw South feeder main.

The next step in the process is now underway, with crews slowly refilling the empty pipe with water from the Bearspaw water treatment plant.

Twenty-two million litres of water will be pushed through in the next two or three days.

Once full, the water will be tested for safety before the pipe is connected back to the larger system.

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Crews will also be repaving the road at the work sites, which will lead to new closures along 16 Avenue N.W. next week.

Water work

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas says Calgarians will be asked to limit their consumption use and not use water outdoors for just a bit longer.

There’s no official timetable the end of those restrictions, but some have speculated they’ll be gone by this time next week.

Farkas wouldn’t confirm that timeline, but he said the city is “well on track” with the progress.

“While this is going, we’re working faster than anything we’ve done before to build a replacement pipe,” he said Friday.

‘”Having not just those nine locations simultaneously but being now 100 feet underground on the replacement pipe … we’re doing something really special here in Calgary that I don’t think has been done anywhere else.”

As for Calgarians and their daily water usage, levels remained in the sustainable green zone for another day.

Thursday’s water consumption was 486 million litres, up slightly from Wednesday.

The city says by staying under the limit of 500 million litres of water per day, all regular demands can be met.

If the 500 million litre mark is exceeded for too long, then crews may not be able to fight fires, boil water advisories may be needed and the water treatment plant could fail.