Vancouver city council votes to look into residential water metering

Vancouver metropolis assembly has voted to analyse the imaginable of installing water meters connected each of the city’s homes.

Vancouver presently meters h2o usage successful flat buildings, and requires meters to beryllium installed connected each caller builds and successful renovations.

Most of the city’s residents, however, presently wage a level complaint for h2o usage. Vancouver metropolis councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung, who projected the metering motion, said that strategy does not promote radical to conserve water.

“Once you enactment those systems successful place, radical thin to devour less. you’re much alert of what you are really using,” she said.

“After West Vancouver implemented it, they saw their h2o (use) alteration by 44 per cent. In Richmond, they saw their h2o usage alteration by 35 per cent.”

UBC Sauder School of Business economics prof Werner Antweiler said Vancouver’s deficiency of h2o meters is an outlier globally.

While galore different cities astir the satellite person had the strategy successful spot for decades, British Columbians person historically been blessed with abundant supplies of water.

That’s changing amid clime alteration and recurring drought conditions, and arsenic our colonisation grows, helium said.

“That means we truly request to dainty h2o arsenic a scarce resource, 1 that needs to beryllium managed carefully,” Antweiler said.

“Right now, erstwhile determination is simply a level complaint successful place, determination is nary punishment for overusing water. So if you privation to capable up your swimming excavation 3 times a day, you could bash that successful principle.”

Trending Now

According to Metro Vancouver, residents of the portion usage astir 270 litres each per day, a fig that surges to astir 450 litres erstwhile commercialized uses are factored in. The portion arsenic a full consumes adjacent to a cardinal litres daily.

Currently, lone a fistful of B.C. municipalities person h2o meters for homes and multi-family buildings, typically successful caller builds.

Last year, the provincial authorities earmarked $50 cardinal for h2o metering aviator projects successful 21 communities.

Kirby-Yung framed metering arsenic an affordability measure, arguing that paying attraction to h2o usage would pb to little depletion and little bills.

She added that reducing h2o usage volition besides prevention taxpayers wealth by reducing unit connected existing, aging infrastructure that is successful enactment for costly upgrades.

City unit person been directed to travel backmost to assembly by the extremity of April with a reappraisal of opportunities to velocity up h2o metre installation, timelines, and an investigation of the fiscal benefits and superior costs of the proposal.