Significant progress made on Calgary's water main repairs, city says

There's more good news from the City of Calgary after it released an updated schedule for repairs as residents and businesses used a lot less water on Thursday, data indicates.

The city's potable water demand dashboard shows 473 million litres of water was used, down from the previous day's 485 million litres.

• 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

On Thursday, the city announced that construction work was ahead of schedule and 20 out of the 21 pipe repairs are now complete.

That means that roads could be opened and restrictions lifted a lot sooner than anticipated.

"We want to extend a big thank you to all Calgarians, local businesses and nearby communities for your ongoing efforts to save water," the city said in a news release.

"Your actions are making a real difference, and it is a huge relief to our plant operators and water team."

Starting Monday, crews will continue work by filling the feeder main, which will take about three days.

While that is happening, the water will be tested to make sure there are no contaminants in the treated water.

If the test results come back clear, crews will then move on to stabilizing the pipe by switching on the pumps at the Bearspaw treatment plant.

Officials say that process will take about a day.

"If everything goes according to plan, we can return to normal water use and lift all outdoor water restrictions over the weekend of Sept. 21," officials said.