St. Albert, Spruce Grove ask residents to conserve water as demand surges during heatwave

Two cities near Edmonton are asking residents to conserve water, as they experience a period of high demand for water during the ongoing heatwave.

St. Albert and Spruce Grove are hoping residents cut back on water use. Some of their recommendations include taking short showers, delaying laundry or only doing full loads, turning off taps while brushing teeth, and not watering lawns or washing cars.

Both cities have suspended all non-essential water usage in municipal operations until the situation improves. There are no restrictions on residential or business use, officials said.

“The City of St. Albert is entering Water Demand Management Measure ‘B’ effective immediately,” the city said. “This means there are voluntary water restrictions in effect for residents, businesses and community organizations, and mandatory restrictions on non-essential potable water use for all municipal operations.”

St. Albert has discontinued non-essential activities involving drinking water, including hydrant flushing, non-emergency sewer flushing, street sweeping, dust abatement, pool filling, park watering, firefighter training and washing city fleet vehicles. Versailles Park Splash Pad will also be closed, the city said.

In Spruce Grove, operations like water main and sewer flushing have been suspended, as well as street cleaning, irrigation and fleet vehicle washing. The Central Park and Fuhr Sports Park splash pads will be closed until further notice.

A heatwave in Alberta has brought daytime highs of over 30 degrees C for at least seven days straight in St Albert and Spruce Grove.