As level four water restrictions came down onto Airdrie and other Calgary water users on Aug. 26, officials said residents did not do enough to reduce their water use.
Calgary and area used 530 million litres on day one of the restrictions yesterday, said Michael Thompson, Calgary's general manager of infrastructure services. The daily target for water use is 450 million litres per day during water main construction, an amount the system can sustainably supply.
"That's a 75 million litre drop in water use from Sunday," Thompson said. "This drop shows that many of you are taking the right steps to limit your water use and I want to sincerely thank you for making those adjustments. However, while yesterday's numbers are heading in the right direction, they're not at the level we need to sustain our water supply."
Following the repairs resulting from a catastrophic break of Calgary's Bearspaw South feeder main in June, additional testing was done on the pipe’s condition. Several new locations were identified to need immediate repair, which shut down the Bearspaw water treatment plant and prompted water restrictions from Aug. 26 until the end of September.
With the feeder main supply out of service, there is not enough water available at this level, Thompson said.
"Water use numbers from this morning showed an increase in water use in line with what we would see under stage one outdoor water restrictions, well above the threshold we are planning for," he said. "If you have not started to reduce your use, now is the time."
He said if the limit is consistently exceeded, the underground water reservoirs will deplete and Calgary would run out of water.
He said city water cannot be used outdoors. People are also asked to limit showers to three minutes, run laundry and dishwashers only when full, and flush toilets only when necessary.
The City is currently in the process of draining water out of the pipe system and construction has begun.
Francois Bouchard, Calgary's director of capital priorities and investment, said equipment has been set up at the five sites used to drain the feeder main in preparation for the excavation. A new fibre optic acoustic monitoring system will be installed inside the pipe that will continuously monitor the condition of the pipe and replace the external monitoring devices.
Once the pipe has been depressurized, excavation will begin.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the City cut back water use by 25 per cent earlier this summer and is convinced the City can once again do that now. She added, maintenance work is critical to prevent another catastrophic break and that repairs are done to strengthen the system for the future.
