Broken Calgary water main was in 'good' condition: Gondek
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the main problem hasn't been fixed, but some ingenuity by the city's water services department helped supply Bowness with some safe drinking water.
Alberta Health Services lifted the boil water advisory on Monday evening after city crews diverted treated water being produced at the Bearspaw treatment facility to the neighbourhood.
- Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Despite the good news, Gondek says the city is under outdoor water restrictions.
"I'm still encouraging people to reduce their water use indoors, the Bowness water solution is not a result of the feeder main being repaired," she told CTV News on Tuesday morning.
Last Wednesday, a 78-inch pipe, built from layers of concrete and steel, burst and flooded a large section of Montgomery, knocking out water services for thousands of residents in Bowness.
Over the weekend, crews managed to excavate the pipe and repairs have been ongoing ever since.
Gondek says the work is expected to continue until at least Saturday, with water restrictions also expected to stay in place until that work is complete.
"That's the bare minimum time frame," she said. "The crews have been working hard, they've lifted out chunks of the old pipe and they're actively working to get the replacement put in."
Once the repairs are complete, Gondek says it could take a little bit longer before everything returns to normal for Calgarians.
"There is a process in which they need to treat the sealing of the pipe then they need to do the flushing and testing to make sure the pipe is good to go," she said.
Gondek says she isn't sure how much time will be needed to restore the 23 reservoirs of treated water throughout Calgary.
Crews are also currently working to inspect the pipes in an attempt to find out what happened and take care of any vulnerabilities.
"I can tell you that this type of infrastructure has a 100-year lifespan, so we're only at 50 years right now and there was no way to anticipate this break would happen," Gondek said.
"Crews are working to determine what did happen."
She says the vast majority of pipes in Calgary are in good or very good condition and the affected pipe was in "good" condition.
"It had some maintenance work done to add a little bit of technology, like air valves, to make sure it was going to move into the future in a good way."
Gondek said the feeder main will also be worked on in the fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ministers Joly, LeBlanc travel to Florida to meet with Trump's team
Two members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet will be in Palm Beach, Fla., Friday to meet with members of Donald Trump's team.
India alleges widespread trafficking of international students through Canada to U.S.
Indian law enforcement agencies say they are investigating alleged links between dozens of colleges in Canada and two 'entities' in Mumbai accused of illegally ferrying students across the Canada-United States border.
Teen actor Hudson Meek, who appeared in 'Baby Driver,' dies after falling from moving vehicle
Hudson Meek, the 16-year-old actor who appeared in 'Baby Driver,' died last week after falling from a moving vehicle in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, according to CNN affiliate WVTM.
Hwy. 401 off-ramp shut down due to Boxing Day deal-hunters now reopen
A Highway 401 off-ramp west of Toronto that became so clogged up with Boxing Day deal-hunters Thursday that police had to shut it down out of safety concerns has re-opened.
Pizza deliverer in Florida charged with stabbing pregnant woman at motel after tip dispute
A pizza deliverer in central Florida has been charged with pushing her way into a motel room with an accomplice and stabbing a pregnant woman after a dispute over a tip, authorities said.
Christmas Eve stowaway caught on Delta airplane at Seattle airport
A stowaway was caught trying to nab a ride on a Delta Air Lines plane at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Christmas Eve.
2 minors, 2 adults critically injured in south Calgary crash; incident was preceded by a robbery
Multiple people were rushed to hospital, including two minors, in the aftermath of a serious vehicle collision on Thursday morning.
B.C woman awarded nearly $750K in court case against contractor
A B.C. woman has been awarded nearly $750,000 in damages in a dispute with a contractor who strung her along for a year and a half and failed to complete a renovation, according to a recent court decision.
Aviation experts say Russia's air defence fire likely caused Azerbaijan plane crash as nation mourns
Aviation experts said Thursday that Russian air defence fire was likely responsible for the Azerbaijani plane crash the day before that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured.