Repair work on broken feeder main in its 'final stages'

Full restoration of Calgary's water supply is still days away, but construction and repair work on the infrastructure itself is now nearing completion.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek shared that news during her Tuesday morning daily update on the developments of the Bearspaw south feeder main, saying that welding at the four hotspot sites is finished and concrete curing at one hotspot is also complete. 

Backfilling will begin today and continue into tomorrow, she said.

Even with the repair work winding down, Gondek said the next stage of bringing the water supply back to full capacity is just getting started. 

"We're not quite finished yet," she said. "There will be time needed to flush the pipe, then to fill the pipe, test water quality and adjust from partial pressure to regular pressure."

Gondek added that this will take several days, but Michael Thompson, the City of Calgary's general manager of infrastructure services will have an update on the timeline of that work at Tuesday's regular afternoon update.

"I have heard that this update may have some positive news on timing for water service to be restored," Gondek said. "But again, the teams are working on that right now and will have more to offer you at 2 p.m."

The Bearspaw south water feeder main, a major pipe that supplies nearly 60 per cent of the city's potable water, ruptured on June 5.

The main break led to outdoor water restrictions, with the city also urging residents and businesses to cut back on their own use to help ensure an adequate water supply.

During Tuesday morning's update, Gondek continued to ask residents to curb their water usage, as demand has been increasing once again. On Monday, Calgary used around 460 million litres of water.

"We're still days away from regular water flow," Gondek said. "Until then, we're still relying on the smaller facility at Glenmore to provide water throughout the city."