Calgary on the verge of collapse as mayor threatens to turn off the taps

Calgary’s mayor jod gondek declared a state of local emergency days after a crucial federan pipe which supplied over half the city’s clean water burst suddenly without any warning the state of local emergency was enacted today to give us provision to go onto private property we are not restricting Indoor Water use we are providing you with suggestions and we are counting on your goodwi to reduce your indoor water use but if we can’t do our part by banding together there may be some restrictions that come into place we are now contacting some C customers to ask them to stop some operations and some activities if we need to the city has the ability to turn off water to a business if they are not complying with that ask this would be a last resort and one we are prepared to take adop and if it’s yellow it’s mellow and if it’s brown flush it down routine if we don’t stick to using less water the reality is that we may run out of water you could end up turning on a tap and nothing will come out that is the reality it’s not a scene out of a movie anymore it’s okay to feel disrupted by this I think we’re all feeling the same pressures of that but please keep standing with us Sydney vizard for rebble news at Calgary City Hall today I’m here to explain just how dire this situation is for the Calgary area as water supply for 1.7 million people local businesses and City infrastructure like schools and Hospital hital could spontaneously collapse I can’t stress enough we will run out of water if we don’t take action individually right now this is not a joke it is not some conspiracy it is a fact and so far there’s been more questions than answers roughly 2 weeks ago on June 5th 2024 a water main pipe feeding Calgary with 60% of its total clean water coming from the bearspaw water treatment plant suddenly burst this caused flooding in the grounding area temporary loss of water for local residents and businesses and serious pressure on the city’s entire water infrastructure putting at risk treated water supply for the region emergency broadcasting ensued a major watermain break in the Northwest has led to Citywide water restriction leading to water outages restrictions a boil water advisory and a fire ban residents in boness sde and a belt line taking to social media saying they don’t have any water we have to use porta potties now to go to the bathroom and it’s like it’s just hard because we have to walk outside instead of just going to the bathroom like normal I’m holding it in I’m not I’m not risking it the community of bonus just east of the incident was hardest hit facing a boil water advisory that residents say came too late we spoke to members of the community here to get their reaction to the situation well I was out of water for a couple days and then I couldn’t drink my water for a couple weeks so that was a little bit tough but couldn’t shower for work and all but nothing nothing too crazy and I heard there were there were porta potty set up as well did you have to use those no I didn’t have to use any porta potties at least for the time being the toilets weren’t working but I just went to the um Gas Station instead I had to ask my son to come bring me water uh because my water was shut off and um that was okay and then when the water came back on I just boiled it and of course I didn’t have I couldn’t shower for a couple of days when I first found out about it was when I was at work whatever a couple hours later about 10:00 in the morning I I’d found out there was a boil advisory but I had still drank a glass water that morning not knowing there was anything wrong with the water we did have that boiled water notice it was about a day after the fact though does that mean for a day you were drinking questionable water yeah my friends that also lived in the neighborhood also had the same sentiment of it should have been out a little quicker but this is all just the tip of the iceberg before we get into it consider supporting our on the work at Rebel field reports.com accountability infrastructure and the City of Calgary itself might be at stake and there are three key areas to focus on the water main break and repairs the Integrity of our remaining infrastructure now under added stress and the effects this has on calgarians and their business the first key concern is the feeder M water pipe that burst why it happened and how it was allowed to happen in the first place after the pipe burst Construction Crews moved in to begin the 24/7 repair job that continues currently beginning with digging up the old pipe in order to fix the damage area the situation was expected the last days then 5 to 7 days then on the ninth day after the incident a robotic survey of that particular pipe showed five more failure points in need of immediate repair before the water man could be put back in service requiring an additional 3 to 5 weeks from June 14th we have discovered five hotpots where significant wire breakage has occurred and require critical and Urgent repair our initial estimates is that are that the work will take 3 to 5 weeks they said they were going to have it put back together last Thursday and it’d be an operation by the middle of this week I feel like people are doing their hardest I mean even one week is a long way to go without any sort of washing of dishes or clothes and so to go even longer is going to be difficult once news of delays broke the mayor put Calgary in a state of local emergency supposedly to access private property and hasten construction the state of local emergency was enacted today to give us provision to go onto private property if we need to which I think will absolutely be the case if we’re trying to work on five sites at once um that’s really what led to this the state of local emergency is not linked to the level of water within reason I guess uh you know like yeah if somebody tells me I got a dig up your backyard cuz there’s a water main going and it’s going to help this neighborhood get water well I wouldn’t refuse as long as they put it into a reasonable place this meant more roadway blockages within the area and prolonged strain on Calgary’s water infrastructure as you can see construction is ongoing behind me with this portion of the broken water M with the replacement steel pipe in place expecting the other five to be repaired or dug up in the days ahead but the most important question here is why did it happen how did a key feeder M pipe that supplies 60% of the water to 1.7 million people suddenly burst underground leaving the remaining infrastructure struggling to supply water to calgarians businesses and other facilities like hospitals hospitals care facilities and schools are counting on us right now to be able to provide the critical services that they offer to folks in need Calgary’s water infrastructure is industry leading and it’s only because of the incredible and skilled work of our water operators managing the water system so carefully that we continue to have enough water like we don’t have a crystal ball to see what’s going to happen uh but this um yeah this one caught us off guard we weren’t expecting something like this to happen this 11 km pipe is only 49 years old and was installed in 1975 supposedly built to last a century before needing replacement and apparently has passed in inspections and monitoring up until now they do mention minor work had taken place earlier this year and more was planned for December along with further inspection but until the point this crucial feeder M mysteriously popped they were not expecting it detection methods like acoustic monitoring failed and they still don’t know why it happened there was no indication that the section of pipe was being stressed the pipe is approximately uh 49 years into it 100-year lifespan our regular modeling of the pipe incorporating risk factors like age pipe material operating pressures did not give any indication that a physical condition inspection was required the feeder main operated well within its pressure limits the installation of acoustic monuk equipment in early 2024 provided no indication that the pipe was experiencing issues a physical inspection would have required shutdown of the pipe putting stress on other pipes in the network this leaves Calgary’s remaining infrastructure stability and accountability measures in question as well as whether they can even perform or identify an effective repair job considering they don’t know what caused the failure this also raises concern as to whether similar issues may arise in other Canadian cities especially considering Calgary is supposed to have one of the better systems out there apparently warning signs were present from over 20 years ago but this city Administration was seemingly not paying attention the second key concern is Calgary’s remaining water infrastructure and whether it can sustain the remaining clean water flow for this extended period of time Glenmore uh treatment plant in the south is actually pumping water to the East and the north of the City it is truly uh that treatment plant and the pipes coming out of it are The Little Engine That Could we have begun preparations to bring in as many redundant parts and to put personnel and equipment on standby to make sure that we are in a position to address any issues quickly and keep the water supply that we currently have we essentially want to bubble wrap that Glenmore treatment plant so we keep it safe protected as possible knowing the heavy need that we are placing on it and will continue to place on it there’s contingencies in place if it’s needed right now it’s not needed because we are able to keep up with the demand because people have cut down on their water usage so the amount of water that’s flowing from the Glenmore facility is enough to meet Demand right now after this crucial pipes snapped underground the Bears paaw plant was cut off from the city Calgary’s tap water was and continues to be supplied from the Glenmore Water Treatment Plant which normally only supplies 40% this facility began operating in Max Capacity since the burst and is our only remaining source of accessible treated water now expected to operate overtime for 3 to five more weeks at top the nine days that have passed as you can see behind me the remaining fixes are ongoing construction is taking place right now with the first break already wrapped up questions remain as to whether this facility can handle the stresses of extended maximum use without experiencing failure and whether the quality of drinking water supplied through this treatment facility has reduced to compensate for current demand needs such as an increase in use of cleaning agents or by the shortening of certain processes I can tell you personally my tap water now suddenly smells like chlorine and I’d like transparent Communications and details on changes that are actually being made to the treated water countless calgarians are drinking on a daily basis as well the still undisclosed nature of how the original pipe was able to spontaneously burst without prior indicators calls into question the quality and review methods of all remaining water pipes in the city even more now as the system is being stressed by the redirection of water at altering speeds on mass to resupply affected areas and maintain Active water use creating a risk of further serious water main breaks across the city on June 17th I asked for Clarity on the previously mentioned water infrastructure concerns and received a response from the city of Calgary’s general manager of infrastructure Services Michael Thompson is there concern of additional large infrastructure failures elsewhere especially during these next 3 to 5 weeks uh considering the unknown cause for the failure uh the overworked remaining treatment plant and the uh uh traveling of water through alternative [Music] piping we know people want answers we want answers to what happened as well right now we’re committed to get in a complete analysis of this incident but we’re focused on reducing consumption repairing The Brak restoring water service and then completing the review unfortunately that doesn’t answer the question calgarians need an answer to now can our remaining water infrastructure sustain itself for another 3 to 5 weeks without a terminal disruption or will 1.7 million albertans and the City of Calgary be spontaneously left without any clean water for an known period of time for another unknown reason on June 18th the day after my question the mayor announced an independent investigation to look into this matter I want I excuse me third I know you want to understand what happened to this pipe in the first place and I do too and it’s for that reason that I called for a third party to do a complete incident review of this situation and the scope of this review will include but not be limited to understanding the factors that contributed to the original pipe failure understanding of our current practices for inspection and asset sustainability and it will include recommendations for specific actions to improve rot water supply resilience moving forward and the association of Professional Engineers and geoscientists of Alberta has remarked that they are closely paying attention and will follow up with the city after the immediate public impact has been addressed but if this will be resolved in a timely and wholesome manner is yet to be determined as there have been no assurances as to the current Integrity of our water infrastructure yeah it should be all renewed and it should never have been put that close to the Trans Canada Highway the City of Calgary just doesn’t spend the money they’re supposed to they talk about the abundancy of reserves for fixing things the roads are in the worst condition I ever seen in my life in this city councils in Calgary I I don’t think they know half of what they’re doing it’s kind of scary like I mean it’s a small community here and we just like totally devastated you know no water can’t drink can’t shower there must be something we can do or something we could have caught cuz uh the pipe is supposed supposedly halfway through its lifetime right now so there had to be something we could have caught I’m hoping that the repairs help and that they won’t have to be dealt with in a while so hopefully they do a good enough job that it won’t be an issue in the future um it also might hopefully be a lesson to not be so reactionary to it and more preemptive about having these repairs done at top all this over 138,000 people are expected in the city for the Stampede in 2 weeks time meaning more water usage on an already stressed system the third key concern in this situation is the effect it has on calgarians and our accountability measures right after the incident mayor gondek implemented mandatory outdoor water restrictions with supposed violators able to be fined at least $3,000 at the same time a fire band was put in place along with additional restrictions on hot work construction which temporarily blocked construction of certain kinds such as Roofing which can require the use of flame we’ve also restricted the work hot works permits it’s where uh people want to do welding in the construction industry or anything else that involves um tools that that create high heat propane torches tiger torches those kinds things again a fairly common cause of fire it’s impacting roofing companies and people like that I apologize for that but we see that as absolutely necessary to minimize the risk of fire during this difficult time businesses are also being asked to turn off the Taps as well where they can footing the bill for these desperately needed measures thanks to a failure from the city to maintain our essential water supply does the city have an estimate of the current Financial losses businesses in Calgary have suffered in relation to both the water main break and repairs as as well as the mandated and requested water use limitations uh is this being measured for future analysis so I can say that we’re working with the business and local economy team and they are meeting regularly with business uh as for numbers right now we do not have those numbers but they are working closely with that group and making sure that we understand the impacts that they’re receiving as well the damage caused by this massive disruption is something that will certainly grow in the expected 3 to 5 weeks ahead for businesses in the greater area threats have been made by the city that water will be forcibly turned off for businesses who do not comply and that indoor water restrictions may be on the table if the situation worsens we are not restricting Indoor Water use we are providing you with suggestions and we are counting on your good will to reduce your indoor water use but if we can’t do our part by banding together there may be some restrictions that come into place we are now contacting some C customers to ask them to stop some operations and some activities if we need to the city has the ability to turn off water to a business if they are not complying with that ask this would be a last resort and one we are prepared to take meanwhile calgarians continue to be inundated with messaging to conserve water use in their hygienic measures like washing dishes flushing toilets and showering for risk we may literally run out of water toilets are next even if you have a low flush toilet as um as much as of you as many of you do you can skip a flush adopt and if it’s yellow it’s mellow and if it’s brown flush it down routine there were some popular ideas things that you are all doing you said you don’t need to keep the tap on while you’re brushing your teeth or while you’re shaving you said if you can’t see out of your vehicle’s windows or if the headlights or tail lights are dirty you don’t need to wash your car you can use a rag and wipe them off or better yet when you’re fueling up use the squeegee at the gas station you said you don’t need to fly wash the toilet every time you use it don’t wash dishes until the dishwasher is absolutely crammed full and don’t think that handwashing is going to conserve any water it’s actually more water efficient to use your dishwasher if you have one be selective in the clothing that you need to wash wash your Essentials only and if you need to change your bedding use the spare sheets use the guest sheets don’t do that load if you don’t need to and I will say this we are actively looking at what else we need to do in terms of putting restrictions in place and I would say to calgarians do you really need to wash your car right now amidst all the messaging that you have to do your part as a calgarian calgarians aren’t getting the answers that they need from officials in order to properly assess their own personal security and safety we don’t know how the pipe broke or if the fixes proposed to bring it back online will cause even more disruptions considering the unknown fault will we have a repeat surprise incident elsewhere can our water infrastructure handle the disrup ruption without an even larger failure and what would a larger failure look like do we know whether the city’s methods of Examination for repair work on our crucial water infrastructure are effective or completely useless to begin with and we don’t know what our city officials are actually doing to help perhaps hurt the situation let alone who is responsible for allowing this shocking failure to occur consistently the mayor and other parties involved have refused to confirm what likely scenarios might occur for calgarians if the situation gets worse nor have they confirmed the contingency plans in place for such events does that mean uh perhaps intermittent C offs from certain communities or certain neighborhoods I think it’s going to be interesting to see what the teams come back with uh that is not an optimal solution and one of those outcomes is mass distribution of water and figuring out how would we do that though perhaps this is no surprise as they were also oblivious to this incoming catastrophe were unable to stop it and still don’t have a clue as to the cause instead of this our mayor has dedicated her time and our resources to blanket resoning for added construction across the city likely in some ways tied to increased residency and environmentalism seemingly a top infrastructure unable to sustain the city’s growth certainly with the city’s growth uh what I can tell you is that um there’s so many so much growth in in Calgary that we do have plants for um additional uh servicing that would be redundant uh or would be an additional um very similar movement of water like this pipe and and that is on our long range plan and and we’re actually because of the city growth that’s advancing that we know that um our behaviors need to sustain and continue and be different um than what was maybe 10 years ago um Calgary’s growing there’s a lot more of us again the rivers uh if anything are getting uh more volatile or um not volatile um they are uh their um changing conditions so we need to adjust once we get that repaired the system will be running as normal when we look at the future and the conservation that we need to practice because of drought conditions and environmental conditions that’s a different uh approach that we will be taking as a city even more concerning is the fact mayor gond has said all of what she’s saying now in relation to the water main back in March of this year when she was saying the exact same things in relation to Drought holding off on doing laundry until you’ve got a full load same thing goes with the dishwasher wait until you’ve got a full load taking shorter showers uh we can certainly set timers and get into better habits about shower length and turning off the Tab while you’re shaving or brushing your teeth these are all simple things that we can do at home to contribute so our first step is to educate people on the fact that we are in a drought to do that we’re having a press conference like this to make sure people are aware of the ways that they could be conserving water if we’re able to do that through our actions very much like we did last year and in years prior will be in better shape uh there’s a lot of questions about enforcement and economic measures I really believe that calgarians are good people I believe that they want to work together and make sure that we can address this headon through our own actions and I can tell you that the business Community is incredibly interested in doing the same so before we start to implement restrictions or other measures I really believe that calgarians will pull together and do the right thing with her constant advocacy for Environmental Net Zero causes and lack of proactive accountability in keeping Calgary’s environmentally related infrastructure intact many continue to question the Judgment calls of Canada’s most unpopular mayor and though it’s perhaps best if calgarians stock up on water for the time being that shouldn’t be an excuse to cover attempts to control Residential Water use schedules in our communities or any extended restrictions once these repairs are resolved should we be stocking up on bottled water or perhaps shaking our rain sticks for the next month so we can fill our buckets and abandon the system alog together for the sake of the environment of course or maybe someone should be held accountable for Rebel news I’m Sydney fizzard don’t forget to go to Rebel field reports if you appreciate our on the ground reporting on situations and stories that matter like this one does stay tuned at Rebel field reports.com

| Water could run dry in the city’s taps and nobody knows why as Calgary declares state of emergency for 1.7 million residents. Is it as dire as it seems or a case of bad governance?

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