Calgary feeder main repairs complete, water service could be restored sooner than expected

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says residents came very close to the threshold water use on Monday, but that some 'positive news' is expected Tuesday afternoon about the water main repair timeline.

Repair work on Calgary’s water main is complete, but there are still a few more steps crews need to complete before water restrictions are lifted in the city.

In an afternoon update on Tuesday, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said repairs of hotspots along the main pipe are complete and crews have started backfilling those sites.

However, the city says there is a four-step process that needs to be completed before the work is done:

“If all of this goes well, the work of returning the city’s water system to regular service could be done sooner than we expected,” Gondek said.

“But we’re not quite at that point yet.”

Re-paving sections of 16th Avenue that were torn up during repairs is expected to begin “very soon” along with site cleanup.

On June 5, 2024, a 78-inch feeder main broke in Calgary's northwest community of Montgomery, cutting off the supply of treated water from the smaller of the city's two treatment plants. Since then, Calgarians and residents of many other communities that rely on fresh water from the Bow and Elbow Rivers have been under strict outdoor water use rules and voluntary indoor water conservation guidelines.