UPDATED – What you need to know now: (7:39 p.m., June 10)
“Alberta Health Services (AHS) has confirmed that satisfactory water quality has been restored in the Calgary community of Bowness,” read an email press release from AHS. The City said it was able to bypass the damaged feeder main in Bowness by using water from the Bearspaw plant.
Crews have removed a large section of pipe from the broken Bowness water feeder main, and they’re assessing the surrounding structure for any other potential damage.
The City of Calgary provided more details on the pipe, the assessment and a potential planned fix during an availability Monday afternoon but were still unable to provide a more specific timeline for when work would be complete.
Chris Houston, manager of the drinking water distribution system for the City of Calgary, took reporters through work that was done back in April, and more on the pipe’s construction, during Monday’s briefing.
He said there had been many questions and speculation about wire wrapped around the pipe. Houston showed a cross-section of the pipe that indicated the different layers of concrete and steel that form the structure.
“Those are the pre-stressed wires that give the pipe strength. So, that’s what you’re seeing in this picture. It’s all part of the pipe construction,” he said.
“It’s not a previous repair or anything like that. It’s just how the pipe was made and how it’s constructed.”
In terms of work done in April, there was a segment of pipe that was shut down in April, but not this section. They replaced air valves that allow the release of air that gets into the pipes. Once that work was done it was put back into service. They planned to do another shutdown in December for maintenance work on another segment.
“Of course, we have this break, and so we’re doing some of that work now. So. it’s an opportunity to get some of the more difficult-to-access maintenance work done while this pipe is shut off,” Houston said.
“There’s an access point and a couple more air valves that we’ve got to get done.”
Testing the area with cameras and a magnetic field
Houston said that while the area is opened, they are inspecting the nearby segments with a tracked robot equipped with a camera and it creates a magnetic field that allows them to view the metallic parts of the pip, including the pre-stressed wires.
“Opportunity like this doesn’t come along very often, so we wanted to use it to get an inspection tool in there,” he said.
“We’ll have the information back on that later, and we hope we’ll be able to show you some of the footage from that.”
Now, they’re waiting for an analysis of that inspection to see if any other parts of the pipe need replacement or repair. After that, they’ll put the new piece in, flush the system and prep it for reintroduction to the water system.
“Our main priority, again, is to return it in a safe way, and safe and reliable drinking water,” he said.
Until the pipe analysis comes back and they can nail down a plan, the timeline of within five to seven days is still tentative, city officials said.
Both Houston and Water Services director Nancy Mackay said that they hope to lift the boil water advisory as soon as possible. Crews have been out collecting samples and flushing the system to test the water quality for things like E.coli.
“Then once those samples come back, we’ll sit down with Alberta Health Services and decide whether we can lift that boil water advisory,” Houston said.
Consumption below demand, for the most part
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that on Sunday roughly 457 million litres of water was used in the city. Typically, the consumption in Calgary is around 580 million litres. Right now supply is sitting at 620 million litres of water, all coming from the Glenmore water treatment plant.
Still, the mayor said that on Sunday there were points in the day where demand outstripped supply. That’s why a concerted, consistent effort is required to conserve more water, she said.
“Even with a slowly recovering supply like we have, we are not close to what we typically need at this time of year, and if we don’t stick to using less water, the reality is that we may run out of water,” Mayor Gondek said.
“You could end up turning on a tap, and nothing will come out. That is the reality. It’s not a scene out of a movie anymore. I don’t say this to scare people, but I think it is incredibly important for us to understand how serious the situation is right now.”
Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said that Calgarians are taking significant steps to reduce water consumption, including businesses. She said businesses consume about 35 per cent of the water in Calgary.
“Businesses are doing everything they can to save water while continuing to operate,” she said.
Chief Henry also advised Calgarians to find an alternate route to work, or work from home, as traffic congestion around the break was considerable, she said.
Additional water conservation tips can be found here.
There are still efforts ongoing to provide clean water to residents in Bowness. There are water wagons in the area and the City of Calgary delivered 8,200 bottles of water to help citizens.
The Dashmesh Culture Centre also donated $25,000 worth of water to the Bowness Community Association. Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal said it was important for two different sides of the city to come together.
“During crises, the unity and support within the city of Calgary is truly heartening,” Coun. Dhaliwal said in a prepared release.
“The generous contribution from the Dashmesh Culture Centre exemplifies the solidarity and compassion that define our city. It’s imperative for us all to conserve water and stand by our neighbours during this challenging period.”
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