Montreal residents are being urged to cut back on water use for the next several weeks as the city undertakes emergency work on key aqueduct infrastructure.

In a news release, the city said three of its major conduits need to be shut off for several weeks as work is carried out.

“What we announced this morning was the responsible thing to do,” Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said during a news conference Friday.

Martinez Ferrada added that the repairs to a key piece of water infrastructure will place significant pressure on the city’s network in the coming weeks.

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“We have to mobilize all citizens of Montreal to make sure that they are contributing to the fact that we have to lower our consumption of water. We do not want to get into a situation where we wouldn’t have any water in the city.”

The move comes as Montreal’s festival season is about to kick off, when water use is at its highest.

“We have a main structure that we need to repair – that’s going to put a lot of pressure on the supply of water, so we need to reduce the consumption. And that’s what we’re asking Montreal to do today.”

Residents are advised to comply with drinking water use bylaws, reduce lawn watering, avoid using water for outdoor cleaning and modify habits to reduce their daily drinking water consumption.

The city may suspend and/or limit pipe and sewer flushing, fire hydrant flow tests, street washing and some decorative fountains.

– With files from The Canadian Press

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