Emergency officials issued a dire warning to Calgarians on Friday as a water supply emergency — brought on by a massive water main break earlier in the week — still has no timeline to be resolved.
“This current level of water use cannot continue, … (or we will be) at risk of running out,” said Nancy Mackay, the City of Calgary’s water services director. “We must all further reduce our water use to effectively use our remaining water supply.”
Mackay joined Susan Henry, the chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, for a news conference on Friday morning to provide an update on the water issue that first arose Wednesday night.
On Thursday, Calgarians were asked to stop using water outdoors and to do their best to minimize water use indoors.
Both Mackay and Henry noted that while Calgarians did a good job of conserving water for much of the day, more conservation efforts were needed once people got home from work in the evening.
“(That) took us back to a situation where we were using more water than we can produce,” Henry said. “This trend cannot continue.”
“Unfortunately, our consumption rose in the evening hours,” Mackay said, adding the water main damage that occurred Wednesday amounts to “a massive break that cannot be repaired in a day or two.”
Mackay asked that Calgarians remember the spirit of unity and sacrifice that got the city through a devastating flood in 2013.
“We need everyone to do their part,” she said, adding conservation efforts need to improve.
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When asked how quickly the city could run out of drinking water if conservation efforts do not improve, Mackay said that was difficult to project exactly because it depends on a number of factors.
“That all depends on what Calgarians do,” she said, noting most major urban centres in Canada always have one-and-a-half to two days’ worth of drinking water supply on hand, but adding that the city is also constantly processing or producing more drinking water at any given moment.
“The balance dipped in the wrong direction (last night). …Demand, … was higher than we were able to produce.”
Henry said city bylaw officers received 56 calls about misuse of water on Thursday, and eight calls about people not adhering to a fire ban the city brought in on Thursday to mitigate the risk of firefighters not having enough water to respond to all calls.
Henry said in many of the calls, Calgarians simply were not aware of the water emergency and bylaw officers have been employing an “education-first approach” to such complaints.
“We’re focused today on, … (making sure that) everyone understands,” she said.
Henry thanked city crews for their tireless work as the situation remains unresolved, and said she hopes Calgarians can reduce their water consumption by at least 25 per cent on Friday.
What led to the water supply concerns
The water supply concerns were triggered by a massive water main break in northwest Calgary on Wednesday night. The incident happened in the Montgomery neighbourhood but spurred a boil water advisory for residents of the Bowness community.
The water main break affected a feeder main, which is a large artery to move drinking water across the city and to some nearby municipalities.
Mackay told reporters Thursday that while water main breaks are common in Calgary and other Canadian cities, the size of this one is significant and has a massive impact on the ability to move water.
She said Friday that crews were still working to identify exactly what needs repairing and that there was no estimate for how long the repair work may take. However, she added she is hopeful workers will be able to better identify on Friday the details crews will need to be able to begin repair work.
Henry noted Thursday that the break is “large and complicated.”
“Right now, we can’t even tell you what the repair is, but I think we’re looking at least another day or two to be able to identify what’s going on,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek said on Thursday.
“And so while we can’t give you a set time frame, we can tell you that the crews are there.”
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