As Calgary continues to see water restrictions following a massive water main break, Edmontonians are left wondering if a similar situation could persist here.
Edmonton’s supplier, EPCOR, telling CityNews there are some key differences between the two cities water supply: Edmonton does not have a single feeder main supplying the majority of the city.
According to EPCOR, Edmonton has two water treatment plants— E.L. Smith in the west end and Rossdale downtown — that supply the city and multiple lines that take water from those plants into the rest of the water transmission and distribution system.
“EPCOR operates 4,400 kilometers of water pipe in Edmonton. Regular inspection, maintenance and replacements are carried out. or leaks in the largest lines in the network have been rare and to-date have been managed without significant impacts to customers,” EPCOR told CityNews on Thursday.
The broken Bearspaw feeder main in Calgary is estimated to deliver water to 60 per cent of Calgarians, and the diameter varies from 1.5 meters to nearly 2 meters.
As per EPCOR, their water network in Edmonton has both transmission mains, which are 350mm to 1500mm in diameter, and distribution mains 100mm to 300mm in diameter and vary in age.
“While water systems across Canada may have similar system components such as treatment plants, transmission mains, distributions mains, reservoirs and pump stations, each of these components can vary considerably in design, material composition and age,” said Laura Ehrkamp, Specialist, External Communications.
“We are not going to speculate on the cause of the pipe failure in Calgary, but we will review their final findings once available and see if there are insights that would see us refine processes within Edmonton’s water system.”
In late January, E.L. Smith water treatment plant suffered a pump equipment failure. The issue prompted a ban on non-essential water use that was in place for five weekdays until EPCOR could make repairs and get capacity restored.