Calgary water use dips back into the ‘risky red zone’
That’s just over the 500 ml that the city claims is sustainable while the Bearspaw South Feeder Main is shut down for repairs.
Any amount of daily water use above that limit has been referred to as “the risky red zone” by city officials in an attempt to encourage Calgarians to limit their water use.
The higher-than-recommended consumption comes after two days of water use below the recommended 500 million litres.
The latest round of water restrictions took effect on March 9 when city crews shut down the feeder main, which normally supplies about 60 per cent of the city’s water supply, for a series of repairs following two catastrophic failures in less than two years.
While the feeder main is out of service the city has been relying on the much smaller Glenmore water treatment plant to supply water to Calgary, as well as several surrounding communities, including Airdrie, Chestermere and the Tsuut’ina Nation.
The repairs on several weakened sections of concrete along the existing Bearspaw South Feeder Main are being done at the same time the city is working to replace the entire feeder main with a new steel pipe that should be in place by the end of 2026.
Source: City of Calgary
News of the increased water use prompted the city’s general manager of infrastructure services, Michael Thompson, to issue another plea for residents to conserve water, during an update on feeder main repairs on Thursday.
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“We aim to save 25 liters of water per person each day,” said Thompson. “Dishwashers use around 28 liters a cycle and a front load washing machine uses 62 liters, so even one less cycle a day can meet or exceed your daily target.”
Thompson said rebar work, to reinforce the weakened sections of the feeder main has been completed, concrete pours and underway and backfilling the excavations around some sections of the pipe has begun.
“Replacement of the valves at the Shaganappi pump station will be completed this weekend,” said Thompson, who added that refilling on one section of the feeder main will also begin and will use about 5 million litres of water, said Thompson.
“Starting on March 24th, we are beginning construction on the final microtunneling shaft on 16th Avenue at 44th Street,” added Thompson. “A construction work area will be set up in the parking lot on the south side of 16th avenue and will remain there until the work is completed in December. There will be intermediate traffic impacts related to this worksite.”
The reinforcement work, along with the water restrictions, are expected to last another two weeks before the feeder main can be put back in service.
At the same time, the city is continuing the parallel process of replacing the entire Bearspaw South Feeder Main with a new steel pipe which is anticipated to be completed sometime in December.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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