Cyclists roll past a City of Calgary sign on Bowness Road N.W. announcing water restrictions on June 7, 2024. Jim Wells/Postmedia

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Calgarians may undergo another bout of outdoor water restrictions next month, though it’s not related to the Bearspaw South feeder main.

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In September, the city will temporarily shut down the Bearspaw Water Treatment Plant to complete electrical work for a new pump station, as part of the North Calgary Water Servicing Project.

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Mayor Jeromy Farkas said the restrictions would depend on weather and Calgarians’ water demand at the time. If they are necessary, the restrictions should be in place for less than a week and are part of “planned work,” rather than a system failure, he said.

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“Our water supply is strong but I want to give you an early heads up that we might need temporary outdoor water restrictions for less than a week in September,” he said in a social media video.

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“If restrictions are needed, we expect some outdoor water use would still be allowed.”

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The North Calgary Water Servicing Project, which has a budget of $533 million, will include a 22-kilometre feeder main that will be installed below several communities near the city’s northwest boundary. It will begin north of the Bearspaw plant near Stoney Trail and Nose Hill Drive and cross under Crowchild Trail up to 144th Avenue N.W., where it will connect to an existing feeder main at 14th Street N.W.

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It’s part of a series of water system improvements approved by the current and previous city councils to address Calgary’s aging water infrastructure.

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An official from the city’s water utility previously said the future feeder main will carry 100 million litres per day of treated water from the Bearspaw plant, with a long-term capacity of 410 million litres per day, once Calgary has built a third water treatment plant.

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It will add capacity to Calgary’s water distribution network as well as redundancy to the current network, Farkas said.

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“We’re building 22 kilometres of new water pipe and 10 supporting facilities to serve our growing city and give us more back-up when parts of the system are down,” he said.

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The mayor also provided a reminder of a longer stretch of outdoor water restrictions coming this fall, which are related to the Bearspaw South feeder main.

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Those Stage 4 restrictions, which Farkas and administration representatives previously said should last up to four weeks in October, are necessary to tie in the twice-failed feeder main’s replacement line to the city’s water system – a process that requires the original feeder main to be out of service.

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The original feeder main, which carries 60 per cent of Calgary’s treated water, has failed twice since 2024, both times requiring weeks of citywide restrictions during repair work.

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The replacement line is currently being built under 34th Avenue N.W. in Bowness, parallel to the existing water pipe. Construction was expedited and broke ground earlier this year. The new main is slated to be operational in December, according to city officials’ most recent update last month.