Calgary's daily water usage remains unsustainable one week after 'catastrophic' water main break

Calgary’s water usage remained at an unsustainable level on Monday, as the city continues to recover from a recent “catastrophic” water main break.

The city’s water use hit 514 million litres on Monday, up four million litres from the day before. That total is 29 million litres above Calgary’s daily water use goal, a threshold it sets to ensure water is available for consumption, emergency response and firefighting.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said on Monday that residents can expect regular water restrictions in the coming months, after Calgary saw its second "catastrophic" break of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main in the city's northwest in less than two years.

The break on Dec. 30 has resulted in ongoing water restrictions, as well as a boil-water advisory for several northwest neighbourhoods that was lifted on Sunday.

The boil-water advisory lifting on Sunday night may have been a factor in Calgarians’ water usage on Monday. The city recommended that households in northwest neighbourhoods like Parkdale, Montgomery, Point McKay and West Hillhurst that had been under the advisory should fill bathtubs for 10 minutes, followed by running all other faucets for five minutes.

Officials are continuing to urge Calgarians to run dishwashers and laundry only when full, to only flush toilets when necessary, and not to shower for longer than three minutes.

A new section of the broken feeder main was delivered to the construction site on Tuesday, and its installation is scheduled to start after an inspection is completed.

The city is also preparing to bring a different feeder main, located at Memorial Drive and 52nd Street N.E., back into service. Flushing of that feeder main is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and last for a few days, to ensure water inside the pipe is safe to drink. The city said bringing this pipe back into service will help improve water delivery around Calgary.

The city scheduled a special meeting of council for Wednesday to discuss the final report of an independent review into last year's Bearspaw South Feeder Main break.

The Bearspaw South Feeder Main's replacement project is scheduled to start this spring.