Calgary using water 'at an unsustainable rate,' officials say

Crews are still working 24 hours a day to repair issues along Calgary's Bearspaw feeder main and, after consistently pushing past the limit on water use for several days, officials moved the mark.

Unfortunately, announcing the new limit hasn't done much good as water use on Tuesday was 506 million litres – up 1 million litres from Monday.

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In an update on Wednesday afternoon, Francois Bouchart, the City of Calgary's director of capital priorities and investment, said the system is running at maximum capacity.

"We are using water at an unsustainable rate," he said. "We are stretching it beyond what is reasonable for long periods of time."

Bouchart said the system has suffered some problems. 

"Over the past couple of days, we've had two issues. One was a pump failure and the other was a component in our treatment process."

Bouchart said crews resolved the issues quickly, but if more of them occur, the city may not be able to provide as much water to residents and businesses as it should be able to.

The City of Calgary has released updated water use data on Sept. 4, along with more details about what the system can and can't handle over the next three weeks of repairs. (Supplied)

'Important to reduce demand'

Now that Calgary is heading into another stretch of hot weather, Bouchart said it is time to really focus on conserving water.

"As we enter into hotter temperatures over the next few days, it is important to reduce demand as much as we can," he said.

Bouchart said 11 tickets for non-compliance to Calgary's Stage 4 water restrictions have been given out – seven to residences and four to commercial properties.

"Since the beginning of the repairs, we have received over 1,000 complaints," Bouchart said, adding that bylaw officers are following up.

He also urged everyone to do everything they can to reduce their indoor water use and to stop using potable water outside immediately.

"Despite the additional capacity we have created, we still need to save water and stay within the sustainable zone to get us through the repairs."