Calgary water main repairs to finish this weekend, restrictions to last 10 days

Calgary’s feeder main repairs that have forced the city back into strict outdoor water restrictions are expected to be completed this weekend.

In an update Thursday, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said work on the pipe has progressed quicker than expected, which will allow crews to finish construction before next Monday. Stage 4 water restrictions are now expected to be lifted by Sept. 22.

“This is great news for everyone who has been following the maintenance and repair work,” said Gondek. “I would like to thank and congratulate all the crews and teams that have been working tirelessly to help secure the safety of our water system.”

Calgarians will be asked to keep conserving waters for 10 more days to allow crews to pour concrete and backfill the repair sites, and then allow the filling of the pipe, monitoring of flow, and water testing to ensure safe drinking water.

Gondek says the refilling and testing process is scheduled to begin Monday, and should take three days.

“We have to watch for a couple of things,” cautioned Gondek. “First, the rain may impact the backfilling and the paving work.”

“And second, the gradual increase of water flow in the pipe is something that the water team will need to monitor carefully.”

Stage 4 water restrictions were reintroduced on Aug. 26 to make way for necessary repairs to the Bearspaw South Feeder Main. The city initially said they expected repairs to be complete by Sep. 23.

Calgarians are still being asked to cut their indoor water use until the restrictions are lifted later this month.

Once the work on the pipe is complete and safe water is moving through the system again, the city will await the result of a third-party independent review on what caused the initial major rupture to the feeder main in early June.

Gondek says the city’s own internal forensic report is also expected to be done by the end of October.

“Both of those reviews will provide all of us with the transparency and clarity on what happened, why it happened, and how we can ensure that it does not happened again,” said Gondek.

“Once I have all of that information, I will be advocating to the federal and provincial governments for more infrastructure funding.”

Roads to reopen this weekend as repairs enter final stages

The city’s general manager of infrastructure services Michael Thompson says work is now moving into the final stages at most of the 8 repairs sites along the feeder main.

Portions of 33 Avenue NW east of 83 Street are slated to reopen over the weekend, according to officials. Residents will regain access to street parking in front of their homes.

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On Monday, most of 16 Avenue NW should also be reopened to traffic, though Thompson says there will be some localized lane closures that remain in place.

Section of 33 Avenue west of 83 Street are expected to reopen next week.

“Even as we start to complete repairs and reopen roads, we need everyone to help and save water until the feeder main is back in service,” says Thompson.

Calgarians used 484 million litres of water on Wednesday, the second straight day the city met the target of 485 million litres.

The target deemed ‘sustainable’ by city officials was originally 450 million litres, but was extended last week after crews successfully tested a new configuration that allowed an additional 35 million litres to move through the system.