Wise water usage has put the Town of Okotoks in a much better position this summer than in 2017. While residents felt the pinch of a water ban through most of the summer last year, changes to watering schedules and production systems has meant the Town has been able to keep up with demand this year. And even the demand is lower. “Our highest day was just over 13,000 cubic metres on Aug. 8,” said Chris Radford, Okotoks infrastructure and operations director. “Our peak demand is down compared to some of the days we saw in July last year, because we were hitting well over 15,000 cubic metres.” Even when temperatures soared to the high 30s, the water production was able to keep up with community demand, he said. Part of the reason was work done by the Town and EPCOR to upsize the pumps used in production and make water-processing more efficient, he said. The available water production has increased by about 1,000 cubic metres per day, he said. In 2017, the Town was able to produce only 11,000 cubic metres per day while demand was hitting more than 15,000 cubic metres, he said. “Now, for the most part, even when it was so hot, we’re actually able to produce what the community demand is,” said Radford. It means reservoirs aren’t being drawn down on watering days to the point where they are unable to recover during non-watering days, he said. This year, usage is showing more residents adhering to the watering schedule, which also helps keep the reservoirs full, he said. In fact on Aug. 10, when Okotoks hit record high temperatures, the total water demand was only 8,700 cubic metres, he said – lower than the summer’s highest usage day. “People are using water wisely,” said Radford. “And things are still green this year. I think we’ve seen precipitation at opportune times as well.”
