Dozens of homes and businesses had automatic irrigation systems running this morning in Calgary, said Michael Thompson, Calgary's general manager of infrastructure services, in an Aug. 29 update.
"I cannot stress enough that we simply do not have the water available right now for people to water their lawns, gardens, and plants using treated water," Thompson said.
On day three of the level four outdoor water restrictions across Calgary, Airdrie, and other areas using Calgary's water, water use dropped by only three million litres from the day before. On Aug. 28, water use was 494 million litres. The daily target is 450 million litres.
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.
Education teams have been out in the communities of Calgary. Presence in the communities have been increased to support bylaw inspectors by monitoring compliance to the stage four water restrictions. Where teams see sprinklers running, they will be documented for review and bylaw enforcement.
Since Monday, the City of Calgary received 148 calls for water use concerns at residences and businesses. Calgary is fining $3,000 for outdoor watering.
Airdrie's Municipal Enforcement has received a total of six calls, one of which was founded, and a warning ticket was issued.
"Municipal Enforcement attends to all complaints where the first offence is given a written formal warning and education, and the second offence is a fine under the bylaw. To date, there have been zero second offences," stated Savleen Khurana Airdrie's communications advisor.
Residents cannot use city water outdoors and automatic irrigation systems must be shut off, Thomspon said. People are also asked to limit showers to three minutes, run laundry and dishwashers only when full, and flush toilets only when necessary.
Progress on Calgary's feeder main repairs
Eight worksites along the feeder main will be excavated for a total of 21 pipe segment repairs over the coming weeks. As of Aug. 29, work has begun on four worksites.
Repair construction has five milestone stages, explained Francois Bouchard, Calgary's director of capital priorities and investment. First is excavation, followed by encasing the pipe with concrete, which is left to cure, and then the forms are removed to be backfilled and paving will be completed.
"We have to repeat these five stages at each of the 21 segments and all 21 need to be completed before we can start the process to repressurize the feeder main," said Bouchard.
The five stages will take approximately 12 to 14 days to complete each repair. All excavations for the first four sites are estimated to be completed by Sept. 3.
