New water main breaks likely caused by Calgary feeder main shutdown: city

A manhole cover is seen as crews work to repair sites on the Bearspaw feeder main in Bowness. (CTV News)

Multiple water main breaks throughout Calgary are likely to have been caused by pressure changes in the system following the shutdown of the Bearspaw feeder main.

Four emergency breaks have been reported to the City of Calgary since Monday.

“Due to the shutdown of the Bearspaw South Feeder Main, we are moving water through the distribution system differently than we normally would,” the City of Calgary said in an emailed statement.

“When this happens there can be pressure fluctuations that will cause water main breaks. This is typical for any water system and it happens for a short time until the system adjusts.”

Most recently, a break in the community of Renfrew was reported on Friday morning, in the 400 block of 5 Avenue N.E. Crews are currently investigating the break.

Five homes have been affected.

Two more water main breaks were reported in West Hillhurst and Monterey Park on Thursday.

In West Hillhust, the break occurred in the 1900 block of Broadview Road N.W. Thirty homes and one business were affected by disrupted service. Crews are investigating.

In Monterey Park, the break occurred in the 200 block of Eldorado Place N.E. Crews are investigating and 27 homes were affected.

There was also an emergency break in Kingsland on Monday, in the 7500 block of MacLeod Trail S.W. One business was affected by disrupted service. A contractor will be taking care of repairs.

One additional planned repair was underway in the community of Ogden, as of Friday morning. Crews are repairing a main valve in the 7400 block of Ogden Road S.E.

Currently, 30 homes and one business were affected by disrupted service.

Alongside the additional repairs, city crews are currently undertaking major repairs on the Bearspaw feeder main, which required the pipe to be shut down.

Sections of 33 Avenue in Bowness between 87 Street and 78 Street have been shut down as crews work on the critical repairs.

The city says work on these emergency breaks will not affect progress on the feeder main repairs.

The city recommends calling 311 if your water is not working and you have not been notified of an outage, or if you see water coming up through or pooling in the grass, road or sidewalk.

Check the city’s website for up-to-date information about the status of water outages.