How we're conserving water

Trees in Calgary enhance both the environmental health and the aesthetic appeal of our city. A healthy canopy improves air quality, reduces stormwater runoff, and soil erosion prevention, while supporting Calgary’s biodiversity. 

The water usage for each tree is very low when considering the long-term climate-positive benefits.

Actions we are taking:

• We will continue watering trees that have been planted within the past five years to promote establishment.
• Where stormwater reuse is available, we’ll be using it to water young trees.
• We monitor soil moisture to help ensure we only water as needed with a focus on water conservation.
• During implementation of a five-year tree watering program, each new tree, on average, receives the equivalent of 2.6L of water per day. As a comparison, a high-efficiency toilet uses at least 3L of water per flush.

On average, smaller trees, require around half the amount of water of a larger tree, roughly the same amount as a medium milk carton.

We’re taking steps to reduce water usage where we can while still making our downtown a vibrant destination for Calgarians and visitors alike.

Actions we are taking:

• For this year’s street patio program, we’re reducing the number of planters by one third as well as using more drought tolerant plants.
• This year, we plan on reducing the number of summer hanging baskets by 50 per cent and by doing so, we anticipate saving over 30,000L of water through the spring and summer seasons.
• Across our flower beds in locations like Prince’s Island Park and other regional parks in Calgary, we’ll be planting 20 per cent fewer flowers.

Citizens may see irrigation systems being tested in new parks under construction, which is necessary to ensure all parts of the system are working properly to help establish new and vulnerable plantings.

Water use for health, safety or regulatory needs

• Each spring, when we turn the irrigation system in parks back on, it is regulated that the system must be inspected and tested in each park to ensure it does not have any leaks that would waste water and could potentially leak back into Calgary’s water supply.
• We have been given an exemption from the Water Utility Bylaw to continue using potable water for controlling weeds listed as “noxious” or “prohibited noxious” under the Alberta Weed Control Act.

The City of Calgary operates six cemeteries where families can honour and remember loved ones.

Actions we are taking:

• We have voluntarily reduced our watering by 10 per cent.
• Where the watering is automatically controlled, watering occurs during the early morning hours and amounts are adjusted based on weather station information.

Water use for health, safety or regulatory needs

• We will prioritize meeting the legislative requirements of the Alberta Cemeteries Act where new burials will be watered for establishment. 

Actions we are taking:

• We’re reducing outdoor watering of plants, flowers and grass at City-owned and operated buildings. 
• Outdoor decorative fountains are running on reduced schedules or turned off completely. 
• We’ve reduced City parkade floor scrubbing from monthly to an as-needed basis and only the lower levels that accumulate the most dirt are scrubbed.

During the street-sweeping program, we minimize the use of water to only what is operationally necessary to minimize dust and air pollution.

Actions we are taking:

• We schedule higher water use operations, like street-sweeping, prior to the normal drought season.
  
• We use water meters when using hydrants to monitor water use and reduce it where possible.
• We use water outside of peak demand times by doing work like bridge washing at night.

Seasonal maintenance

• During winter maintenance, we use liquid anti-icing agents, which results in less materials on roadways and reduces water use while street-sweeping.
• During gravel lane maintenance, we use calcium chloride rather than water, which helps with dust abatement while also hardening the lane.

We know you rely on us to provide reliable access to clean and safe water. When outages happen, we work to restore service as quickly as possible. City crews do their best to limit water use where possible.

Actions we are taking:

• We have methods in place to reduce overall flushing volumes and we reduce planned work, where possible, to limit required flushing after the work is complete.
• When possible, we are using technology to reduce response times and water loss related to water main breaks and other repairs.

Water use for health, safety or regulatory needs

If a repair is being done to a water main, some critical water main flushing activities may take place to remove any sediment and contaminates in the pipes to ensure safe, high-quality drinking water to customers.

Actions we are taking:

Exterior washing of City vehicles, fire trucks and buses is limited to only where necessary and at a frequency required for health and safety.   

Actions we are taking:

We're accelerating our water loss reduction program across The City's water infrastructure to detect and fix leaks.