After four months of concerted water conservation efforts applied to the residents of the Calgary area, City officials are ready to close the book on the Bearspaw Water Feeder main as repairs are expected to be completed this weekend.
Francois Bouchart, the Director of Capital Priorities and Investments for the City of Calgary, said in his Wednesday afternoon briefing that the feeder main is in the process of being refilled and repairs to the damaged main line are progressing as planned.
Bouchart said that based on repair progress, the water restrictions that have been in place for the last month will be lifted this weekend. He added that City officials do not anticipate any widespread impact on water pressure once the main is fully functional.
Unlike in July, when the easing of water restrictions was lifted in phases, Bouchart said that once the feeder main repairs are completed, all restrictions will be lifted. But as the repairs progress to the final stages, residents are advised to ease back into water use.
“We are so close to the end, I want to remind you we need to keep with water restrictions until repairs are done,” Bouchart said. “Your collective efforts have gotten us this far…lets finish strong.”
Bouchart added that there are additional sections of the main that still need repairs, which the City plans to begin in October and November, but the fixes are “much smaller in scope and are in areas where the work won’t require water restrictions.”
By this weekend, if everything progresses as planned, residents of Calgary and the surrounding area can expect a return to normalcy for the first time since June.