The City of Montreal says emergency repairs on a major aqueduct beneath Atwater Avenue remain on schedule and are expected to continue until the end of the summer, while urging more than one million residents to keep reducing their water consumption.
The repairs involve one of the city’s main water distribution pipes, which helps supply drinking water to 1.3 million people across 16 Montreal boroughs and several neighbouring municipalities.
The work began after inspections earlier in the season found urgent repairs were needed to prevent the aging conduit from failing.
A city spokesperson told CityNews construction is progressing as planned, but was not able to provide a concrete deadline. That timeline includes an additional two-week period to ensure water is circulating properly through the network before the project is considered complete.
With the possibility of more heat waves later this summer, the city spokesperson also said it is especially important for residents to continue conserving water to reduce pressure on the drinking water system.
The water-saving campaign, launched in May, asked residents to help cut the city’s daily water consumption by 100 million litres — about seven per cent of Montreal’s average day-to-day use.
At the time, Alan Desousa, Montreal’s executive committee member for infrastructure and mobility, described the measure as “the largest water mobilization we’ve ever seen.”
The Atwater aqueduct is one of four major pipes feeding one of Montreal’s largest drinking water reservoirs on McTavish Road, a stone’s throw away from McGill University.
To reduce demand, Montreal has suspended several water-intensive municipal operations, including continuous pipe flushing, preventive sewer cleaning and certain street washing activities. Decorative fountains and other non-essential uses have also been reduced or paused.
Residents are still being asked to follow the city’s drinking water regulations, limit lawn watering, avoid unnecessary outdoor water use and adopt other everyday water-saving habits while repairs continue.
City officials have previously warned that if voluntary conservation measures are not enough to reduce demand, additional restrictions — including a complete watering ban — could still be introduced if necessary.
