Calgary proceeding cautiously with water restrictions as demand rises during heat wave

Calgary is proceeding cautiously with its outdoor water restrictions, as hot temperatures lead to higher water use throughout the city.

Water use in Calgary rose steadily this week as temperatures eclipsed 30 C, but city officials say the increase was expected.

As Calgarians tried to beat the heat on Wednesday, there were 567 million litres of water used in the city, up from 555 million litres on Tuesday.

“On Monday, with the increased heat, we started to see a spike in use,” Francois Bouchart, the City of Calgary’s director of capital priorities and investment, said during an update Thursday.

“This is a normal pattern during a heat wave. We anticipated this increase and we expected our use to drop in the coming days as the temperatures cool.”

Calgary remains under Stage 3 water restrictions, with no exact timeline for when the city will move to Stage 2 – which would allow the use of sprinklers and hoses for outdoor watering.

The city said it is continuing to proceed with caution, not wanting to put too much stress on the water system.

“If we had been in Stage 2 restrictions (on Wednesday), we believe our water demand would have been 70 to 100 million litres higher, due primarily to running of sprinklers and hoses,” Bouchart said.

“With the current water flow rate through the feeder main, it would have been hard for us to meet this higher demand.”

The flow of water in the Bearspaw feeder main remains at 55 per cent. The city said the biggest barrier to moving to Stage 2 restrictions is making sure that flow can meet Calgarians’ water use demands – particularly during high-demand events like a heat wave.

Under Stage 3 restrictions, plants can be watered by hand using a watering can, or another container, with water from your tap.

Sprinklers or hoses cannot be used for watering yet, except for new sod planted within 21 days or lawn seed planted within 45 days.

City-operated public outdoor pools, wading pools and spray parks were exempted from Stage 3 outdoor water restrictions and are reopening as they are able.

Backyard outdoor pools and kiddie pools can also be filled.

Third wire snap

City workers have detected a third wire snap along the feeder main – after announcing the discovery of two additional snaps on Wednesday.

“These snaps do not mean another break is imminent,” Bouchart said.

“The wire coils around each 16-foot segment of pipe approximately 350 times, and the snaps were spread across three locations along the feeder main.”

Bouchart said the break in the hotspots along the feeder main that were repaired occurred in areas where there were approximately 50 individual snapped wires in a single segment of pipe.

With other areas of concern along the pipe, where snapped wires have been detected that are affecting the structural integrity, the city plans to work on medium- to long-term rehabilitation plans for those sections.

“The three additional snaps are not an immediate cause for concern, however, they do show that the pipe is under some stress under the current flow conditions,” Bouchart said.

“To comfortably move to the next stage, we will need to increase the flow in the pipe, but we’re moving very cautiously because we don’t want to risk another significant break that could set back our progress.”