Calgary eyes moving to Stage 2 water restrictions with bringing new pump online

Calgary is inching cautiously towards Stage 2 water restrictions by bringing online another pump at the Bearspaw feeder main, city officials said in Monday morning news conference.

The city remains under Stage 3 outdoor water use restrictions, meaning that Calgarians can water their gardens and outdoor plants, but only using handheld containers or buckets.

The flow through the pipe that replaced the feeder main that broke June 5 on 16th Avenue N.W. remains at 55 per cent of its capacity.

City officials say that although the pipe is full of water, that water is moving at a little more than half of its normal speed. This keeps the pressure low and reduces stress on the pipe.

A second pump will be brought online and monitored over the next 72 hours to determine if moving to Stage 2 on Thursday makes sense. With everything going as planned, Stage 1 could go into effect on July 22.

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she's felt a shift in the last two weeks when talking with residents about the city's response to massive water main break June 5.

Many told her they were happy having done their part and with the level of communication, she said.

"Your understanding very quickly shifted to concern," she said of a change in tone recently.

"I heard emotion in your voices."

The city will return to updates three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, until water services are back to normal.

Once the city reaches Stage 2, Calgarians will be able to use garden sprinklers for an hour a week, with certain conditions. Watering with a hose with a spray nozzle would also be allowed.

"The water operations team will be using acoustic monitoring and they will be carefully watching pressure increases over the next 72 hours," said Michael Thompson, infrastructure services general manager with the city.

"If there are no issues, it is possible that more information about moving to stage 2 will be available on Thursday."