City given green light to move on to last step in feeder main repairs

The flushing of Calgary’s recently repaired water feeder main went ahead on Saturday with no issues, mayor Jyoti Gondek said during the Sunday update on the city’s water situation.

She said monitors picked up no areas of concern during the process.

Water samples from the flushing analyzed by Alberta Health Services have met the agency’s regulatory standards, Gondek said in a livestream on Sunday afternoon.

This means the city has the green light to proceed to the stabilizing stage, where workers will slowly turn on a series of pumps and valves to bring the feeder main back into the system.

“I must stress again that this step is the one that involves the greatest amount of risk,” said Gondek.

“We are going slowly and cautiously to ensure that turning valves and pumps back on does not create strain on the system.”

Francois Bouchart, the city’s director of capital priorities and investment, said the stabilization stage has a timeline of three to five days.

Also on Sunday, Gondek said city water consumption levels had fallen for the second consecutive day, with 447 million litres consumed on Saturday, down from 460 million litres on Friday.

Usage had spiked up to 500 million litres on Thursday, the highest levels since the feeder main break occurred, prompting both the mayor and city officials to issue a plea during Friday’s update for Calgarians to reduce consumption.

Gondek said the Bow River Pathway has been completely reopened. The parking lot at Point McKay, north of Edworthy Park and the river near Bowness Road, has also reopened to the public.

In a release, the city said bylaw officers have issued 19 violation tickets for water misuse since restrictions were enacted.

Regarding the fire ban, which remains in effect, bylaw officers have issued 36 written warnings, 110 verbal warnings and six violation tickets.

WATCH | City officials say they are on track to get feeder main back into water system this week: