Officials renew calls for water-saving efforts after usage slips into ‘red zone’

Calgarians are being urged to renew their water‑saving efforts after the city slipped out of the “green zone” for the first time since planned work began on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main.

City officials said the slight spike came at the end of an otherwise strong first week of conservation, where residents kept daily consumption under the 500‑million‑litre target for the first six days of the feeder main shut down.

On Sunday, usage crept up to 504 million litres, an increase officials say was expected but still enough to push the city into the red zone.

“Sunday’s are often higher use days, as people do laundry and cleaning as they get ready for the week ahead,” said the city’s General Manager of Infrastructure Services Michael Thompson. “One day in the red does not undo the excellent work we did last week.”

The renewed calls from officials come after two unrelated events added pressure to the water system.

A boil‑water advisory affecting at least 500 homes and 10 businesses in Spruce Cliff, Wildwood, and Rosscarrock required crews to flush pipes and hydrants over several days. The flushing used roughly two million litres of water.

The advisory, issued Friday after a localized outage, was lifted Monday morning. The incident was not connected to the feeder‑main reinforcement work.

A major fire early Monday at an auto shop in the city’s southwest required an estimated seven million litres of water to extinguish.

“These situations show why flexibility in our water system is so critical,” the city said in a release.

Officials are asking residents to continue saving 25 litres per person per day, and are asking Calgarians to flush toilets only when necessary, keep showers to three minutes or less, and run dishwashers and washing machines with full loads only.

The ongoing work on the feeder main involves strengthening nine pipe segments, six along 16 Avenue NW near Sarcee Trail, and three in Point McKay Park.

The pipe has now been fully drained, excavated, and supported. The first two concrete encasements were poured Monday, with more scheduled throughout the week.

Thompson says crews are still on track to complete the current wave of repairs in three weeks. He said the city will ask council for additional funding this week to help keep the water system strong and responsive.

“In that report, we have about $40 million for repairs on the existing feeder main,” he says. “That’s not just the work we are doing right now, we are asking for additional funds should there be problems through the summer.”

Council will review a $609 million investment in water infrastructure on Tuesday, funding both ongoing repairs and the replacement pipe that is scheduled for completion in December.