Major Water Main Break Disrupts Service to 300,000 Calgary Residents

A catastrophic break in one of Calgary’s major water feeder mains has disrupted service to approximately 300,000 residents in the northwest and forced city-wide water conservation measures as crews work around the clock on repairs.

What Happened

The break occurred early Monday morning in a 72-inch prestressed concrete cylinder pipe in the Montgomery neighbourhood, sending a geyser of water into the surrounding area and severing one of two main supply lines from the Bearspaw water treatment plant.

“This is a critical piece of infrastructure, and the failure is significant,” said City of Calgary water services director Nancy Chicken Chief. “We are asking all Calgarians to immediately reduce water use to essential needs only.”

Conservation Order

The city has issued a Stage 4 outdoor water ban and asked residents to minimize indoor use by taking shorter showers, running full loads only in dishwashers and washing machines, and avoiding non-essential water use. Restaurants have been asked to serve water only on request.

Repair Timeline

Engineers estimate repairs will take five to seven days. The damaged section of pipe, installed in 1975, must be excavated, assessed, and replaced with a new segment. Crews are working 24 hours a day.

“This is a stark reminder of the importance of investing in our aging infrastructure,” said Councillor Kourtney Penner. “We have hundreds of kilometres of aging water mains that need attention.”

The city has deployed water trucks to affected communities and opened public filling stations at 12 locations. Emergency funding for accelerated infrastructure replacement is expected to come before council in the next budget cycle.