Citizens respond to call for water conservation

Nov 23, 2011 05:13 pm | By Stacie Snow | Airdrie City View

The City of Airdrie saw a steady decrease in water consumption from Nov. 15 to 20.

The water services department asked residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve water while the City of Calgary performed scheduled maintenance work on a section of the main waterline into Airdrie.

Residents and businesses responded to the voluntary call by using 11.95 million litres of water on Tuesday, 11.91 on Wednesday, 11.8 on Thursday, 11.55 on Friday, 12.24 on Saturday and 12.43 on Sunday.

Normal consumption for this time of year is 12 to 13 million litres per day.

“A big thanks to Airdrie residents and businesses for conserving water and reducing the draw on our reservoirs,” said Lorne Stevens, director of community infrastructure.

“The maintenance was completed on Sunday, our reservoirs filled up overnight and our water supply is back to normal.”

The maintenance was originally scheduled for Nov. 15 to 17.

“Waterline maintenance often takes a few days longer than planned due to the nature of the work,” said Glenn Archer, team leader of water services for the City of Airdrie.

“We are in good shape, thanks to Airdrie residents reducing their water consumption.”

The City of Airdrie ensured all fire apparatus were filled prior to the shut off, held off on flooding outdoor rinks, and put off any City maintenance projects that require water.

All of Airdrie’s water comes from the City of Calgary through two pipes operated and maintained by Calgary.

Seventy per cent is delivered through a 900 mm water main pipe and the remaining through a 350 mm main.

The smaller pipe alone is not capable of meeting the City’s daily consumption, so the shortfall was addressed using water from reservoirs.