Mayor urges Calgarians to 'ease' back into normal indoor water use as outdoor restrictions continue
Bearspaw south feeder main now in service, operating at 50%
Indoor water use can now return to normal in Calgary and neighbouring communities, the city's mayor announced Tuesday.
But Jyoti Gondek is still urging residents to ease back into their regular water-use habits as crews work to fully stabilize the system.
"The reductions that you have been doing at home are not needed anymore," Gondek said.
"You can return to using water inside your home the way that you were used to; we are asking that people ease into this, though."
Operations that had previously been asked to close — such as car washes and indoor pools — can also ease back to normal indoor water use.
In a regular update on Tuesday morning, Gondek said this marks the first step toward completely restoring the water supply and lifting remaining restrictions.
"This doesn't mean that everyone should take a shower, flush all the toilets and do all the laundry all at once," reads a news release from the city sent Tuesday afternoon.
The city remains under a state of local emergency and outdoor Stage 4 water restrictions and a citywide fire ban remain in place as crews determine how the system will respond to the easing of indoor conservation measures.
"We're not completely out of the woods yet," said Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver.
State of local emergency to be reviewed later this week
Gondek added that the state of local emergency expires on Thursday, and the city will review whether to renew or lift it as they monitor the situation.
To date, the city's 311 service has received nearly 11,000 calls related to water misuse and the fire ban. Bylaw officers have issued 19 tickets for water misuse, and six tickets for violating the fire ban.
The City of Calgary's general manager of infrastructure services Michael Thompson said the Bearspaw south feeder main is operating at 50 per cent capacity for now, and restoring normal water supply also means taking some of the stress off of the rest of the system.
"The Glenmore water treatment plant has been operating at a very high load for the last month, and so we need to start to slow that down," he said.
"We're going to reduce the production coming out of the Glenmore water treatment plant. Those pumps have all been going, nonstop, and we haven't had the ability to go and do some of the regular maintenance that we've needed to do at that plant."
He said that crews will be measuring how the pipe reacts to turning on more pumps, which moves more water through the pipe, in the coming days to understand when the remaining restrictions can be lifted.
Thompson also added this method of stabilizing the pipe is similar to oil and gas operations, and that water crews continue to work with energy sector partners.
"Things like car washes will be reopening today, indoor pools will be reopening today," said Thompson.
Here is an update on city facilities as of Tuesday afternoon:
- Arenas will open Tuesday at 4 p.m.
- Showers in recreational facilities can now reopen.
- Most indoor pools, including main pools and dive tanks, will open July 3 and swimming lessons will resume.
The city says it is reaching out to businesses to notify them that indoor water use can return to normal.
Officials also noted that some Calgarians may have noticed cloudy water when turning on their taps. The City of Calgary's director of capital priorities and investment, Francois Bouchart, says it's a result of reconnecting the feeder main to the water system, and any cloudiness (also referred to as "turbidity") is an esthetic issue only.
"Over the past 24 hours, turbidity has improved and will continue to improve as we stabilize the system," said Bouchart.
"This water is safe to drink and the situation will be temporary."
A news release sent Tuesday noted the city will be flushing water through some hydrants to reduce the cloudiness.
Total cost still unknown
Still unknown is the total cost of this emergency.
"There's no ballpark available right now," said Gondek on Tuesday when asked if she could provide a potential dollar amount.
"Talking about the numbers, at this point, would not be useful to anyone."
Gondek said the city hasn't yet reached out to the province to ask for financial support.
When asked if the provincial government has plans to help Calgary pay for the costs associated with the feeder main's rupture, McIver said he would wait to hear from the city before committing to any financial support.
"This is an unexpected expense.… I think it's a fairly easy guess that it'll be a large one," said McIver.
The city had issued an urgent call for residents to cut their water consumption on Friday, after usage spiked to its highest level since the crisis began.
Then, during Monday's update, the mayor said residents used 425 million litres of water on Sunday — the lowest number since the Bearspaw feeder main ruptured nearly a month ago.
Gondek said on Tuesday that Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) chief Sue Henry would be taking over the city's regular morning briefings.
On Tuesday afternoon, Henry said the city is confident it can supply enough water for indoor use.
"Let's ease back into this," said Henry, encouraging Calgarians to spread out their normal household water use over the week.
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