On Tuesday, Sept. 3, water demand for Calgary and the surrounding area was 506 million litres, which is unsustainable, according to Calgary city officials.
The target water demand is 485 million litres per day. Anything above 500 million litres per day means underground water storage cannot be replenished by Calgary's water system, according to Francois Bouchard, Calgary’s director of capital priorities and investment.
"Over the past couple of days, we've had two issues," said Bouchard. "One was a pump failure and the other was a component in our treatment process. The team reacted quickly to resolve these issues but this further underscored the importance of not pushing the system too hard for long periods of time."
Typically, there would be an average daily water use of 600 million litres at this time, which has been reduced to around 500 million litres per day. Officials urged water to be reduced slightly to 485 million litres per day.
The target of water use has been moved thanks to a new configuration of existing pumps to redirect water flow, increasing water capacity.
"If everyone flushed the toilet once less, we would be halfway there," Bouchard said. "Take three minute showers, and only do full loads of laundry. Make sure your dishwasher is full before you run it."
Potable water is not allowed to be used outdoors and the City of Calgary has issued 11 tickets of $3,000 since the restrictions began. Over a thousand complaints have been received.
The City of Airdrie has received 19 complaints and issued six warning tickets. Airdrie has not issued any actual violation tickets.
Current repairs
Repair progress remains on schedule to be completed by Sept. 23. There are eight worksites along the feeder main with 21 pipe segments requiring repair over the coming weeks.
Sites one through four have been excavated. Pipes have now been encased in concrete at four of the segments, concrete curing has been started at some repair segments, and excavation activities have begun at site 5.
