Calgary water service could be restored by Canada Day if tests go well: mayor

Until the “all clear” is given, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Calgarians need to reduce their water use by 25 per cent to avoid the taps going dry. 

Calgary’s mayor says if everything goes according to plan, the city’s water conservation crisis could be over by Canada Day.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says water service could be fully restored and restrictions lifted by July 1 if upcoming steps to stabilize a replacement water pipe go as planned.

“If there are any problems in any of those steps … it could be more days,” Gondek told a news conference Wednesday.

“We can see the finish line. It’s close, but we still have more work to do.”

Gondek said until the “all clear” is given, Calgarians can’t lose focus and need to reduce their water use by 25 per cent to avoid the taps going dry.

She said daily water usage has been climbing in recent days but remains below the threshold of 480 million litres needed to keep service going and provide firefighters with the resources to combat emergencies.

Calgary, a city of 1.6 million people, and surrounding communities, including Airdrie, Chestermere and Tsuut’ina Nation, have been under a combination of mandatory and voluntary water restrictions since a water main burst in the city’s northwest three weeks ago.

Residents have been asked to limit indoor water use by flushing their toilets less often and doing fewer loads of laundry. Outdoor watering is banned, and people have been encouraged to hydrate their plants using rainwater collected in kiddie pools and other containers.