The City of Calgary has completed refilling the Bearspaw South Feeder Main with water and it could be used to start delivering water to Calgarians homes again within days.
That’s the latest update from the City of Calgary, following repair work on nine sections of the pipe that were found to be in critical need of repair.
“We are now sampling and testing water to make sure it meets or exceeds regulatory requirements. These tests take time and this work is continuing throughout today,” said Michael Thompson, general manager of infrastructure services for the city of Calgary.
Michael Thompson, general manager of infrastructure services for the city of Calgary, says if all goes according to plan, the month-long water restrictions Calgarians have been under, could be lifted by Thursday.
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“Once testing shows that the water is safe, teams will coordinate the opening of valves along the pipe and begin to turn on the pumps at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant. If everything goes as planned, we will turn on the pumps tomorrow,” Thompson added.
The feeder main, which normally provides about 60 per cent of Calgary’s water, was shut down for repairs on March 9 and since then the city has been relying on the much smaller Glenmore Reservoir to supply most of the city’s water.
The city of Calgary says paving work has also begun on the sections of road that needed to be torn up to allow for repairs to be done on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main.
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If everything goes according to plan, the water restrictions which were put in place during the repairs could also “lift as early as Thursday, April the 2nd,” said Thompson.
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Once the pumps are turned on and water is flowing through the feeder main again, the city says residents may notice some cloudy water coming out of their taps.
“This is temporary and will take up around 24 hours to clear,” said Thompson, who also added that “the water is safe to drink.”
As the pumps are turned on, the city says the increased pressure on the pipe means there could also be another break.
To help mitigate any damage caused by possible flooding, the city has installed temporary barriers in the communities of Bowness and Montgomery to protect the homes and businesses in the area and direct the water into the nearly Bow River.
The Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant normally supplies about 60 per cent of Calgary’s water, but since the Bearspaw South Feeder Main was taken out of service, the city has had to rely on the much smaller Glenmore Reservoir to supply most of the city’s water.
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On Sunday, Calgary’s total water use was 500 million litres, but 12 million litres of that was used to refill the feeder main, which means the amount of water Calgarians used in their homes and businesses was well within the level the city claims is sustainable.
Starting around April 9, the city also plans to used a specialized mechanical tool, called a pipe diver, to conduct an internal inspection of the pipe where is comes out of the Bearspaw water treatment plant.
Following the inspection, the flow of water through the pipe will need to again be temporarily stopped to allow city crews to drain some more water from the pipe, remove the pipe diver and test the water again to make sure its safe.
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