Last week the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) launched its rainwater harvesting rebate program, available to all SCRD water users – including those in the District of Sechelt – on a first-come-first-serve basis.
For those getting their water from the Town of Gibsons, no such rebate exists, confirmed Dave Newman, director of infrastructure services for the Town. “Unfortunately we do not have the staff or the funds to engage in every water saving measure so we focus first on the areas that return the most benefit for investment,” he told Coast Reporter in an email.
Newman said the Town’s focus has been on the “care and conservation of the aquifer supply,” and that by installing water meters on every property and replacing watermains, “our current system water use is at an all-time low” at 350 litres per person per day.
When the metering program began in 2009, water consumption was at 780 litres per person per day.
To get that number, the Town takes the system water use, which includes residential and commercial use, firefighting, watermain flushing and system losses, and divides it by the population of Gibsons. Metered residential use is approximately 190 litres per person per day.
“This significant reduction is allowing us to pursue expanding the service area of the aquifer and reducing the demand on the SCRD water supply.” The SCRD declined to provide average daily water consumption.
