Flush time: How Olympic men’s hockey lit up our water system

We noticed a clear spike in water usage during the gold medal game intermissions

hand flushing toilet
It seems everyone watching Sunday’s Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game went to the bathroom at the same time.

Canada’s men’s hockey players weren’t the only ones working overtime during Sunday’s Olympic gold medal game. So were our water pumping stations.

We looked back at water consumption during the game, something dramatic jumped out. Our pumping stations recorded three clear spikes that lined up with the intermissions of the game.

Graph showing three spikes in water usage
This chart shows the spikes in water consumption at 7:50 – 8:04 a.m., 8:45 – 9:06 a.m., and 9:32 – 9:46 a.m.

Things like flushing toilets and washing hands impacts water usage. So, we all took bathroom breaks at the same time.

These surges are no problem for our infrastructure. It’s designed to keep services running smoothly, even during the biggest events of the year.

While the game didn’t have the outcome we’d hoped for, this is a fun reminder of how connected we are as a city.

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