People from Halfmoon Bay all the way to Reed Road in Gibsons have a new water consumption record to wince at.
On June 4, water usage reached an all-time high, blasting past last year's record, leaving the Chapman Creek Water Treatment Plant and reservoirs dangerously low.
On June 5, Mike Harms, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) water technician, said of "about 15 million litres of water it can hold, there's maybe three left."
Harms said the treatment plant holds "all the water in the system that we use" for drinking, washing, gardening, flushing and fire fighting. He said there are another six to seven million litres in the combined reservoirs, but two of those were also depleted by half on June 4, and instead of the system replenishing overnight as it is designed to do, continued water use resulted in the treatment plant losing another metre.
Between June 30 and July 24 of 2008, daily water usage hit highs four times, peaking at 27,108 cubic metres. Last Thursday, during an unseasonably hot stretch, residents used 28,548 cubic metres.
"We're just not used to this hot snap in June," said Harms. "There's lots of water in the creek, but how much can physically get pushed through to meet everybody's demand?"
"We have fantastic operators. They're able to manage the system really efficiently," added Dion Whyte, SCRD manager of sustainable services.
However, Whyte added if there had been a house fire in Welcome Woods that day, it would likely have been lost while operators juggled water lines in order to feed water to the area in need. He also said that if this summer continues to be hot and dry, there won't be as much water in the creek to process come August, so residents need to think long term.
Kevin Johnson, SCRD senior water technician, said if people had kept using water at the pace they had been last Thursday, Halfmoon Bay could have run dry by midnight.
"They're at the end of the distribution line, so all use is affecting them. It's a balancing act," he said.
On a tour of the facility for Coast Reporter last Friday, Harms opened the hatch and pointed out the normal watermark line in the 15-million litre treatment tank less than a metre from the top of the tank. Then, he bent over at the waist, craned his neck to peer into the cavernous, dry pit where his voice echoed as he said, "You can see it [the water] if you get in like this."
Whyte, Johnson and Dave Crosby, manager of utilities and services, were all in agreement that the treatment facility is more than capable of providing the water needed for the area it provides for, but misuse has affected water levels.
Whyte said, "There's a high demand in the wee hours of the night when the system is designed for that to be a recovery time. There are 13 hours sprinkling time in a week, if you're following the program."
The system is designed to recover during mid-day and overnight, but staff are watching the meter run at two and three in the morning as people leave lawn and garden sprinklers on overnight or irrigate in defiance of watering regulations, which can be found at www.scrd.ca.
"You could compromise your fire protection. The water is there for more than domestic use and irrigation," said Crosby. "I was out on my bike last night and I could hear [the water] running. If people do the right thing, we have the water to get to people."
The waterworks team has a summer student, Dayton Skei. Part of his duties include educating the public about more efficient ways to water their lawn and gardens, to inform them of the year-round watering regulations and what the ticketing bylaws are if regulations are disobeyed.
He is also in charge of handing out 'golden lawn awards' to residents who celebrate the golden summer season and allow their lawns to go natural. People can nominate each other by phoning the waterworks team at 604-885-6806.
