The City of Airdrie provided a brief update on the level four water restrictions since last week.

"Water consumption is down an average of 23 per cent since June 5, before the water main break and the outdoor water restrictions were announced," The City stated on Wednesday. 

Officials added that calls to Municipal Enforcement about water usage have been minimal and that officers have used each opportunity to educate about the outdoor water ban, resulting in no-repeat complaints or fines.

"We understand that the recreation closures are impacting athletes and that everyone is eager to get back into our facility. Airdrie's water is supplied by the City of Calgary, so we must mirror their water-related restrictions, including municipal recreation facility closures," The City explained.

Private facilities and those operated by third-party organizations are not bound by this agreement and therefore have more flexibility during this water shortage. Communication about the pool and arena closures, and their impacts, will be sent directly to user groups on Thursday morning, including decisions for the weekend.

Under the current level four water restrictions in Airdrie, residents are not allowed to:

  • Water lawns, gardens, trees, and shrubs by any method.

  • Wash down any outdoor surfaces, including exterior building surfaces, windows, sidewalks, driveways, or walkways of any sort unless your business requires them to for health and safety reasons.

  • Wash cars on driveways or streets.

  • Fill outdoor decorative features, fountains, pools, or hot tubs.

  • Use potable water for construction purposes such as grading, compaction, or dust control

There are no boil water advisories in effect within the City of Airdrie and water remains safe to drink.

"To ensure we share the water currently available, we are asking Airdrie residents to immediately restrict indoor water use by taking the following voluntary actions:"

  • Use dishwasher and washing machine only when required and with full loads.
  • Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or shaving.
  • Limit showers to five minutes or less and keep baths shallow.
  • Scrape plates clean rather than rinsing food off.
  • Turn off humidifiers and ice machines, delay washing vehicles,
  • Businesses using large volumes of non-essential water, such as laundromats and car washes, are being asked to reduce water use.
  • Businesses using water to deliver a product or service that is life-sustaining for people and animals are exempt. Other exemptions include any businesses that must use water to meet health code standards, such as health centres and restaurants.

In her Tuesday update to residents, Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that there was an observable uptick in water usage.

"I'm going to be really clear on the call to action today. We, you and I, need to keep reducing our water usage. We can see that water usage is creeping up."

On Monday water usage was 480 million litres, which is an increase compared to Sunday, in which 457 million litres of water was used. Gondek noted that on Saturday, the day of lowest water usage, 440 million litres was used.

"While we are staying under the threshold that is critical to ensure that we have enough water for all of us, this gradual increase is certainly becoming a concern," Gondek noted. "Please remember that this situation is impacting all of us. The water feeder main break is about 60 per cent of the water that we need to pump through the pipes... We are using our south treatment facility which is Glenmore, which typically only serves 40 per cent of our communities, it's doing more than double duty right now. The situation is still critical."

Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief, Sue Henry, echoed the Mayor's sentiments.

"Our call is to please double down on any water conservation methods that you are currently using," Henry said. "I know this is a huge ask. We have been in this emergency response for nearly one week now, and I know you are tired of the inconvenience, of the disruption to your commute and to life in general. It is okay to feel this way. However, we can’t let up on the amazing water-saving efforts Calgarians have shown so far."

Water Services Director, Nancy Mackay gave an update on the repair progress, saying that there are additional results from yesterday's more extensive internal inspection of the water feeder main pipe.

"Our teams are busy assessing and looking at that information. We've now completed an inspection of 1.8 kilometres of the pipe. We've completed our plans with Alberta Health Services and Environmental Protected areas, which include flushing; and the next steps to be completed, once the repair work is done."

It is expected that today crews will be working on welding repairs on some of the access hatches along sections of the pipe.

"The new section of pipe was completely disinfected this morning before it was lowered into place. The big job now for our team is to get that pipe into place and there's a large metal ring that will go around the new pipe connecting it to the existing [pipe] on both ends."

Mackay said that once welding on the pipe is completed, a protective coating will be applied on the pipe to prevent corrosion.

"We will be conducting inspections of the work and then we'll begin to rehabilitate the site; backfilling the earth; before we do that, though, we will then be removing shoring cages - those large protective boxes that you may have seen with ladders across the sites," Mackay explained. "Those are there to protect workers, [and] we need to bring those out. We have to move in big excavators to pull those out. That work - getting that equipment out - will be needed before we can open up 16th Avenue."

City officials stated that before the water main break, there was no indication that the section of pipe that broke was stressed.

"The pipe is approximately 49 years into its 100-year lifespan. Our regular modelling of the pipe, incorporating risk factors like age, pipe material, and operating pressures, did not give any indication that a physical condition inspection was required," said Francois Bouchard, Director of Capital Priorities and Investments. 

According to Bouchard, the feeder main operated well within its pressure limits and the installation of acoustic monitoring equipment in early 2020 did not indicate that the pipe was experiencing issues.

"A physical inspection would have required shutdown of the pipe putting stress on other pipes in the network. Excavation to visually inspect the pipe would increase the risk to the pipe unnecessarily. Working in partnership with industry, The City will now conduct pipe inspections without having to stop water flow in the pipes. This work will commence this winter."

A fire ban remains in effect for The City of Calgary as well as Airdrie, however after consulting with the construction industry, the Calgary Fire Department is now permitting certain lower-risk hot works activities for roofing (restrictions on this work apply and work using open flames are prohibited). 

All Calgary City-operated aquatic fitness facilities and leisure centres are open, including weight rooms. North Mount Pleasant and Wildflower Arts Centres are open. Swimming pools, arenas, water parks and showers remain closed.

Detours are in place as 16 Avenue remains closed at Home Road Northwest.

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@discoverairdrie.com. You can also message and follow us on Twitter: @AIR1061FM

DiscoverAirdrie encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverAirdrie app. For breaking news, weather and contest alerts click here.

Related Stories