Water use is back on the rise as warmer temperatures settle into Calgary, with the city rising slightly above its preferred water-use levels on Friday
The City of Calgary is increasingly confident in its projected July 5 date to patch up the city’s water main that has been under construction since breaking earlier this month.
It comes amid a brief stretch of summer heat which may bring water usage up in the city, with at least two weeks remaining under the water advisory.
“We are in good shape right now,” Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek at a Saturday afternoon press conference.
“The July 5 timeline is looking really good — so we have about two weeks of this to go, Calgary, if everything stays on course.”
The city has rounded the corner on removing the pipe from four of the five hotspots discovered last week — material which has been taken for inspection, said city general manager Michael Thompson. Concrete casing was scheduled to be poured later Saturday.
Calgary’s water use clicked up a notch on Friday, Gondek noted Saturday, with usage rising just above the city’s preferred threshold at about 461 million litres. (The city’s current target is 450 million litres, 25 per cent lower than the typical demand of 600 litres.)
It was the second consecutive day Calgary had crossed that threshold since consumption edged dangerously high last week, right before the city announced repairs would likely take three to five weeks.
At Saturday’s press conference, the city did not say whether water usage tends to increase when temperatures climb.
Meanwhile, the city is preparing to offer fill-up stations at those same locations — Baker Park and Ogden Boat Launch — for Calgarians needing non-potable water to tend to their gardens. Henry urged Calgarians to bring moderate-sized water jugs that can be lifted.
More information on those fill-up stations will be provided on the city’s website later Saturday, Henry said.
On Saturday, Henry said the letter is “an ask” and did not say the order was mandatory. However, she said the city has the ability to turn off the water if businesses don’t comply.
Henry did not directly answer what would lead the city to turn off a business’s access to water when asked what circumstances would lead the city to do so.
“Right now is not the time for Calgarians to be cleaning their cars. It isn’t an essential use of water and we’re really encouraging both sides of that … it isn’t a life safety risk to have a dirty car,” she said.
