Calgary's water use 'sustainable' for the first time in 9 days

For the first time in nine days, the City of Calgary's water use has dropped below the target level officials say is "sustainable."

For the first time in nine days, the City of Calgary's water use has dropped below the target level officials say is "sustainable."

According to data on the city's potable water demand dashboard, 481 million litres of water was used on Tuesday, down from 494 million litres on Monday.

The city's target for residential and commercial treated water use is 485 million litres.

For more than a week, city officials pleaded with residents to conserve water and made arrangements with businesses to cut down on usage.

Several of those days saw water usage at "unsustainable" levels, where the system was running so hard that it couldn't be taken off for maintenance and equipment threatened to break down.

In an update on Tuesday afternoon, officials said 12 of 21 pipe repairs are complete and crews are busy backfilling and paving roads so they can be reopened.