‘Incredibly impressed’: Calgary mayor applauds water use cuts after pipe break

CALGARY — As crews work to fix a massive pipe break, Calgary’s mayor says citizens are making efforts to reduce water use to prevent the city’s taps from running dry.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek asked Calgarians to reduce their water use by 25 per cent to prevent reservoirs from drying up, and on Monday he said residents went even further and saved 30 per cent.

“At the moment, demand does not exceed supply, but it will only remain so if we continue not to water outdoors and limit indoor consumption,” Gondek told reporters.

If not, she said, “You could end up turning on a faucet and nothing will come out.”

Calgary was under a water emergency after the city’s main northwest main — one of two main lines serving the city — fractured Wednesday night.

Lawn watering and any other outdoor use of water was prohibited.

Residents were asked to conserve water by taking shorter showers, reducing toilet flushes and running fewer loads of dishes and laundry to prevent water supplies from drying up and endangering municipal firefighting.

Calgary apartment owner Deborah Jean Bradford said she washed her dishes with wastewater, flushed the toilet only when necessary and cooked grilled cheese sandwiches instead of pasta.

“A lot of people are doing creative things to not use water,” Bradford, 72, said in an interview.

“I’m a camper, usually self-sufficient, so we know how to save water in general. It’s not a big disaster.”

She said she has left town once since last week to take a shower at her daughter’s house — a 30-minute drive away — and get some water for her plants.

The situation was worse in Bowness, the Calgary neighborhood of about 10,000 residents, where the pipeline rupture occurred.

Residents there were told to boil their water before drinking because of the pipe break, but there was good news Monday night, with Alberta Health Services saying the water quality was satisfactory and the order was immediately lifted.

“All residents and businesses in this community can return to normal water consumption practices as boiling is no longer necessary,” the health care provider said in a news release.

The City of Calgary explained in an online update that it has made changes to allow safe water to bypass the damaged main and reach Bowness. However, he said water restrictions remain in place for all Calgarians while repairs to the pipes continue.

The town brought large wagons of water to the residents of Bowness, who filled bottles, barrels and anything else they could find with fresh water.

City workers also distributed water to seriously ill people and the elderly. Businesses and other communities donated bottled water.

Logan Renaud, of the Bowness Community Association, said earlier on Monday that taps in the community were pouring out a discolored mixture of mud and sediment.

“Even after you boil your water, it still looks brown, muddy, and it’s not something most people are very keen to drink, much less make into baby formula,” said Renaud.

Work is expected to continue in the coming days on the pipeline, which is large enough to fit a pickup truck.

By Monday, crews had successfully cut and removed the fractured portion of the pipe and will now weld in a replacement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 10, 2024.

— By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton

The Canadian Press