To be crystal clear: While the boil water advisory for Bowness has been lifted, the pipe that burst on the evening of June 5 is not fixed.
There. Cleared that up.
According to Calgary’s water services director, it will be at least another seven days before they get to the point of restoring city water and relaxing water restrictions across the city.
“What I can share with you today, is that it will be seven days from now, at which time we will be able to share with you the last two steps on this chart, restoring city water and phasing water restrictions as we return service to the city,” she told councillors.
That’s what city councillors heard during a briefing on the Bowness feeder main break at their June 11 Executive Committee meeting of Calgary city council.
Director Nancy Mackay also said that the damaged section of the has been completely removed. Now, they’re resending their robots into the pipe for up to a kilometre to inspect the rest of the pipe.
“We will then continue to review and refine our next steps when it comes to condition assessment. Repairing the pipe, we anticipate will be completed (on) Thursday,” said Mackay.
After that, it will take three days to flush the pipe because of the size. It will take another two days to remove any additional debris or sediment and ready it for service. That includes testing the drinking water quality coming from the pipe, Mackay said.
“In terms of storage, we’re in good shape. Moving water around the city to each community to make sure it’s topped up in our reservoirs and available for communities has been top of mind,” she said.
With a repair on the main expected within a couple of days, Calgary Emergency Management Agency Chief Sue Henry said that she expected plans would be made for opening up roads in the area. For now, the focus was on worker safety.
“I know our technical teams, our operational centers are talking on a regular basis… and we’ll work towards opening as soon as we can safely for the crews,” she said.
“We were moving in equipment as well. That was part of the issue, is having access, but we’re moving forward, and so I think that will be coming sooner than later.”
7 questions answered on the water feeder main break
- Why is there no state of local emergency (SOLE) like for the 2013 flood, or the pandemic?
CEMA Chief Henry said that declaring the SOLE wouldn’t have given the city any additional powers to deal with the situation.
2. Is the recent maintenance work the culprit for the Bowness water main break?
Work was done to replace some air valves along that feeder main, but according to director Mackay, it has nothing to do with this break. That work was done ‘kilometres away’ from this Bowness break.
3. Should we be worried about the level of the Glenmore Reservoir?
Director Mackay said that the storage levels of water have been a priority for them during this water event. “I can say that we are at sustainable levels right now,” she said.
4. Is funding for projects like the Event Centre, BMO expansion, the Green Line, Arts Commons, taking away from infrastructure maintenance for pipes like this?
Short answer: No. The funding for water infrastructure is different than funding for projects like the Event Centre and other major projects, according to Michael Thompson, general manager of Infrastructure Services. Water system funding is generated through the utility rates that Calgarians pay.
5. Why weren’t more water wagons delivered to the Bowness area?
Director Mackay said they only have a limited number of water wagons to put in communities. There were nine that they could put into the Bowness area during this event.
6. What are they testing for with water quality?
According to Dr. Franco Rizzuti, they check for turbidity (clarity of water), free residual chlorine (disinfectant), and bacteria that could cause sickness. They test the water quality regularly. In Bowness specifically, they’ve collected 12 different samples since Friday.
7. When was the last time this particular section of pipe was inspected?
No specific data was provided by the City on this question. Work was done in this area in the winter to replace air valves and do other maintenance work. More maintenance was scheduled for this feeder main this December.
