Progress is being made with the refilling of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main.
At today's City of Calgary water usage and repairs update, the city's Capital Priorities and Investment Director Francois Bouchart said everything is still on track.
"Based on progress to date, we are still on track to lift water restrictions sometime this weekend, we will continue to bring updates daily and let you know if anything changes over the next few days."
Restrictions will be lifted differently this time, compared to how it was done back in July. This time, all restrictions will be lifted at once instead of a phased approach.
"Yesterday's water use was 500 million litres. This accounts for approximately 7 million litres that were used to start filling the pipe yesterday. "
While the end is in sight, Bouchart mentioned it is still important to conserve water where you can until restrictions are lifted.
Today, gravel is being laid at sites one and five along 33 Avenue N.W. in preparation for paving, and yesterday, 33 Avenue N.W. east of 83 Street N.W. was reopened.
Along 16 Avenue N.W., the 24/7 localized lane closures have been lifted, and intermittent lane closures are in place as needed.
"We have two additional sections of pipe to repair in October and November. These are on a narrower section of the pipe further east along Memorial Drive in Parkdale. These repairs are much smaller in scope and are in a location we can isolate while keeping some key sections of the feeder main running."
No restrictions will be needed if those repairs happen. The City of Calgary is expecting a detailed forensics report by the end of October from their consultants, which will provide a full analysis of the pipe’s condition, including the results from our PipeDiver inspection.
"We’ll also be receiving a report from our consultants in the coming weeks with recommendations to support our medium to long-term planning for the pipe. Once we've reviewed these recommendations and factored in our own lessons learned, we will share next steps," stated a City of Calgary press release.
Level four water restrictions in Airdrie mean that residents cannot:
- Water lawns, gardens, trees, and shrubs cannot be done by any method other than rainwater.
- Wash any outdoor surfaces, including exterior building surfaces, windows, sidewalks, driveways, or walkways, unless your business requires it for health and safety reasons.
- Wash cars on driveways or streets.
- Fill outdoor decorative features, fountains, pools, or hot tubs.
- Use potable water for construction purposes such as grading, compaction, or dust control.
Residents are also strongly encouraged to follow indoor water conservation:
- Use dishwasher and washing machine only when required and with full loads.
- Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving.
- Limit showers to five minutes or less and keep baths shallow.
- Scrape plates clean rather than rinsing food off.
- Turn off humidifiers and ice machines, delay washing vehicles,
- Businesses using large volumes of non-essential water, such as laundromats and car washes, are asked to reduce water use.
- Businesses that use water to deliver a life-sustaining product or service for people and animals are exempt. Other exemptions include companies that must use water to meet health code standards, such as health centres and restaurants.
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