City officials set to provide an update on Calgary's water supply
CBC
City officials will update Calgarians on Friday afternoon with the latest developments on the water system.
Calgary remains under Stage 3 water restrictions as crews monitor how the city's water system will respond to the easing of water conservation measures.
Earlier this week, the city announced that all outdoor pools are exempt from the ongoing outdoor water restrictions in order to provide people with some options for relief from the heat.
The City of Calgary has been gradually lifting restrictions on water use, though officials continue to urge residents to ease back into their regular water-use habits as crews work to fully stabilize the system.
Francois Bouchart, director of capital priorities and investment with the city's infrastructure services department, reiterated on Thursday that Calgary's distribution system would be able to meet the increased water demand as long as Stage 3 outdoor water restrictions remain in place.
Water use reached 555 million litres on Tuesday, up from the 540 million litres used Monday. On Wednesday, that number climbed to 567 million litres in light of the extremely hot temperatures. Temperatures hit 34 C by mid-afternoon, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.
City officials say the Bearspaw south feeder main — which ruptured on June 5 — is still only operating at 55 per cent capacity.
On Thursday, Bouchart also said that monitoring devices along the Bearspaw south feeder main detected another new wire snap in the pipe since easing restrictions, which makes three wires in total that have snapped.
"The three additional snaps are not immediate cause for concern. However, they do show that the pipe is under some stress under the current flow conditions," he said during his Thursday afternoon update.