City of Calgary calls for 3rd-party review into why water main ruptured

City officials have confirmed that there will be a full, third-party review into what caused the catastrophic water feeder main break that created an ongoing crisis for Calgary's water supply. 

"I know you want to understand what happened to this pipe in the first place, and I do too," said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek on Tuesday morning.

"It's for that reason that I called for a third party to do a complete incident review of this situation."

WATCH | City discusses framework of 3rd-party review:

Calgary officials provide update on water main break

5 months ago

Duration 16:43

City officials provide update on major water main break affecting Calgary's water supply.

David Duckworth, chief administrative officer for the City of Calgary, says the review will be guided by an expert panel.

"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 raw water supply resilience moving forward."

The review panel will include academics, water industry and engineering experts and government entities.

"I know that this review will go a long way to providing both answers and transparency for the public," said Gondek.

City officials also provided an update on the state of two workers who were injured while working on the feeder main rupture site.

One of them is a City of Calgary employee who has now returned to work on modified duties. The other, a contractor, is still in the hospital, according to Coby Duerr, deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA).

5 hot spots being repaired 

On Tuesday morning, Duckworth said that crews are working "literally around the clock" to repair the additional stress points within the pipe that were identified.

"These hot spots are not leaks," said Duckworth, adding that the city's hopes are to avoid any potential additional breaks in the feeder main.

All of the hot spots are being repaired concurrently, and all five are in the two new areas on 16th Avenue N.W. that were closed off at midnight on Monday.

The components being shipped to Calgary from San Diego — courtesy of that city's water authority — are en route and expected to arrive today, according to officials. 

However, the city says its three- to five-week timeline for conserving water while the repairs continue remains the same. 

The city's general manager of infrastructure services, Michael Thompson, said the city expected to provide an updated repair schedule by the end of this week.

Thompson says pavement removal and excavation at the two new locations began Monday. That portion of the process is expected to be completed on Tuesday, he says.

The hot spot sections of the pipe will be removed later Tuesday.

Pipe lifespan

Kerry Black, an assistant professor and Canada Research Chair with the Schulich School of Engineering in the department of civil engineering at the University of Calgary, says it's fortunate that the hot spots were found while crews were repairing the initial June 5 rupture. 

"A lot of these pipes are designed to be in the ground for a really long time," Black said during an interview with the Calgary Eyeopener Tuesday morning.

The Bearspaw south feeder main ruptured just 49 years into what the city says is meant to be a 100-year lifespan. Black says that for pipes as large and critical as these water feeder mains, expecting it to survive for such a long lifespan isn't necessarily unusual. 

"Now, this one didn't quite make it to 100 years, but again, that's due to some factors that we're going to have to spend some time figuring out, doing a little bit of forensic engineering."

LISTEN | Expert discusses what those hot spots could look like:

Calgary Eyeopener9:02Understanding the water main

We learn more about Calgary's troubled water main with a University of Calgary engineering professor. 

The city still has not confirmed the cause of the break, and Black says any number of factors could have contributed to the rupture.

"You can see in the pictures of the pipe that have come out, that exposed steel is concerning."

"These pipes have been used across North America and are used in many jurisdictions," said Thompson during the city's Tuesday afternoon briefing.

"When we do the review, we'll be looking at this specific incident to understand what the causes were and to take lessons from that."

Thompson says any lessons learned during the formal review process will be applied across the city's entire water network.

Conservation efforts continue

The mayor says Calgary used 450 million litres of water on Monday, which is below the 480-million litre threshold.

That said, officials say it's important this lower-usage trend continues, and residents in Calgary and the surrounding communities using this water — such as Chestermere, Strathmore, Airdrie and Tsuut'ina Nation — are encouraged to get creative in reducing their water use. 

Stage 4 water restrictions remain in place in the city, meaning that outdoor water use is prohibited. 

Duerr warned that violations may lead to fines starting at $3,000, and since the feeder main break, the city has issued only two tickets, both to corporations using water commercially.

"To be clear, we are only ticketing those who are either repeat or egregious offenders of the water bylaw," he said on Tuesday afternoon.

Duerr also urged residents to be safe when it comes to creative methods of treated water conservation.

"Calgarians have been accessing the river directly using a variety of containers. Do not pull water from the river. Please capture rain water instead," he said.

"From a public health standpoint, I want to reaffirm that this water is not safe to drink or consume."