Non-essential water ban extended for Canmore area

A ban on non-essential water use in the Alberta mountain town of Canmore and surrounding area was extended Monday afternoon, Epcor announced.

The ban was declared Friday for Canmore, Harvie Heights and Deadman’s Flats, where residents and businesses were asked to restrict their water use until at least Monday because an increase in water demand led to the water level in the Grassi Reservoir falling below 50 per cent.

Over the weekend, through a combination of community demand management, system operations and system leak repairs, the Grassi Reservoir was re-filled to required operating levels, Epcor said.

However, the utility company said it needs to further assess the ability of the system to maintain levels of the reservoir, which Epcor said is an underground tank that is not visible to the public, separate from the water bodies that make up the Rundle Forebay part of the drinking water system.

Therefore, the community is being asked to continue to restrict the use of water for non-essential purposes with the following amendments:

• ​​Personal essential use is exempt from the ban, and includes health, safety and hygiene needs for laundry and washing. Personal essential use should ideally occur from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., avoiding evening and overnight water use where possible. Please be mindful of your water consumption and maximize water efficiency wherever possible, Epcor asked.
• Businesses that rely on water for their income and livelihood are exempt, including car washes, which recycle water, laundromats and hotel laundry operations.
• The ban does not apply to golf courses that do not use the Town of Canmore’s distribution system to irrigate, as well as other operations that use private wells or non-potable water sources that are separate from the Town’s distribution system.

Over the past several weeks, Epcor said it has seen large, unexpected overnight demand.

“This demand is unrelated to population growth or visitor trends, which have been anticipated through system design and operations. We continue to look for the cause of the unusual demand,” it said.

Residents and businesses were asked to save water by avoiding overnight use, not watering lawns, gardens, trees, or shrubs; avoiding spring cleaning with water from a hose or tap such as washing sidewalks, driveways or houses, and doing laundry not related to health, safety or hygiene.

Epcor said the next update on the situation would be issued late Tuesday afternoon.

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