Water conservation ‘vital’ as heat wave arrives in Calgary
City data shows that, despite Stage 4 water restrictions banning all outdoor water use, city-wide demand has risen alongside temperatures in recent days
Several days of roughly 30-degree temperatures aren’t going to make it any easier for the City of Calgary to hit its water conservation goals.
A ridge of high pressure has pushed hot and dry air into the Calgary region, making final days of summer feel more like the peak.
Meanwhile, newly-begun repairs to the much-maligned Bearspaw water main are still about two weeks away, Calgary officials say, prompting renewed calls for water conservation efforts from residents.
RELATED: Calgary water shortages: Key ways to reduce your water footprint
“We could see an increase in consumption and we are concerned we’ll go above the 500 million litre threshold,” said City of Calgary Capital Priorities Director Francois Bouchart Thursday.
Bouchart was referring to the threshold at which officials have said water demand will become unsustainable with the main line out of the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant shut down. With water unable to flow through the large pipe, which supplies the service lines that typically deliver water to more than one million Calgarians, the majority of Calgary’s treated water is coming from the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant.
City data shows that, despite Stage 4 water restrictions banning all outdoor water use, city-wide demand has risen alongside temperatures in recent days.
Bouchart said he hopes any heat-induced increase to demand will be at least partially offset by Calgarians taking advantage of the late summer heat in the great outdoors.
“We also know that with the good weather people will leave Calgary,” he said.
Still, he noted that the city plans to extend hours at its non-potable water stations to encourage residents itching to water their gardens to do so without turning on their own taps.
“We continue to provide better access to our non-potable filling stations so people do have an option if they’re concerned about watering their lawns, plants and trees.”
City of Calgary data shows that demand tends to rise when temperatures do
Despite the ongoing encouragement, Calgarians have struggled to keep daily demand below the city’s target rate of 485 million litres a day.
Water usage was 506 million litres Tuesday, 500 million litres Wednesday and 502 million litres Thursday.
Infrastructure Services General Manager Michael Thompson said at those demand levels, the Glenmore treatment plant must operate at full capacity to keep up. He said that’s already caused problems in recent days.
DON'T MISS: Survey suggests 35,000 buildings damaged by Calgary hailstorm
“We have not been without operational challenges. Due to the strain on our water treatment system, in recent days we’ve experienced a pump failure and an issue with a component of our treatment system,” he said.
“We were able to quickly resolve these issues, but if they had gone longer it could have easily put us in a situation where our (underground) reservoir capacities would have dropped significantly and been hard to recover.”
Along with the ban on outdoor water use, officials are calling on Calgarians to voluntarily conserve water indoors too by taking such actions as limiting shower times, flushing toilets less often and running only full loads of water-intensive appliances like dishwashers and washing machines.
“Collective water reduction is vital for us to ensure our water system remains reliable for everyone,” Thompson said.
The main, which first burst back in June, was again shut down in August after the need for additional repairs was identified. Officials said Thursday that repairs were “two-and-a-half weeks” away from completion.
Header image courtesy of the City of Calgary.
