Calgary water use dips back into the ‘risky red zone’

The city of Calgary says the amount of water residents used on Wednesday was slightly above the sustainable level while the Bearspaw South Feeder Main is shut down for repairs.

The latest update on Calgary water use shows that residents used 501 million litres on Wednesday.

That’s just over the 500 ml that the city claims is sustainable while the Bearspaw South Feeder Main is shut down for repairs.

Any amount of daily water use above that limit has been referred to as “the risky red zone” by city officials in an attempt to encourage Calgarians to limit their water use.

The higher-than-recommended consumption comes after two days of water use below the recommended 500 million litres.

The latest round of water restrictions took effect on March 9 when city crews shut down the feeder main, which normally supplies about 60 per cent of the city’s water supply, for a series of repairs following two catastrophic failures in less than two years.

While the feeder main is out of service the city has been relying on the much smaller Glenmore water treatment plant to supply water to Calgary, as well as several  surrounding communities, including Airdrie, Chestermere and the Tsuut’ina Nation.

News of the increased water use prompted the city’s general manager of infrastructure services, Michael Thompson, to issue another plea for residents to conserve water, during an update on feeder main repairs on Thursday.

“We aim to save 25 liters of water per person each day,” said Thompson.  “Dishwashers use around 28 liters a cycle and a front load washing machine uses 62 liters, so even one less cycle a day can meet or exceed your daily target.”