Caution | Outdoor water restrictions in effect

Stage 3 outdoor water restrictions are in effect. Learn more about how City services are impacted and what you can do during this stage.

Learn more

Critical water main break

July 16, 2024 update

  • Stage 3 Outdoor Water Restrictions remain in place.
  • After careful analysis and consideration, we turned on an additional pump at the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant yesterday afternoon and started increasing the flow of water through the feeder main.
  • As of Tuesday afternoon, we have not detected any issues within the pipe that might halt our progress.
  • This is good news in our path to stabilizing the pipe at 70% water flow, and potentially moving to Stage 2 Outdoor Water Restrictions on Thursday.
  • We continue to proceed with caution and to monitor the feeder main for any issues that could impact our ability to lower outdoor water restrictions.
  • July 15 demand was 558 million litres. There is heat in the forecast again, and we expect that like last week, water use will increase along with the temperatures.
  • We know the ongoing restrictions are challenging for certain industries, including landscaping and irrigation. Yesterday, we were able to expand the scope of what is allowed in Stage 3 Outdoor Water Restrictions to include maintenance of irrigation systems. More details are available in our FAQ. 

Livestream

Watch the July 16 livestream

For information on:

  • Factors and timeline for easing Outdoor Water Restrictions.
  • Feeder main capacity and concerns, and how those are being managed.

The next updates will be tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. on calgary.ca/live.

About the water main break

On the evening of Wednesday, June 5, The City discovered a large water main break in the Bowness and Montgomery area.

The break was on the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, a critical transmission line that carries most of the water from the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant into Calgary’s water distribution network.

The initial break and five additional “hot spots” – areas needing emergency repair – were fixed. Indoor water use returned to normal, and Calgary moved to Stage 3 Outdoor Water Restrictions, which allowed for some outdoor water use.

Plans are underway to increase the flow of water through the pipe, which could allow for Outdoor Water Restrictions to be lowered. Increasing the flow will add pressure and stress to the pipe, so teams are moving through this process cautiously, and doing careful monitoring.

Currently, Calgary remains under Stage 3 outdoor water restrictions.

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