Editor:
The proposed universal metering program for the Chapman Water Service Area will cost $18 million over 20 years – that’s nearly $1 million per year. The SCRD Round 1 budget committee agenda of Feb. 9 beginning on page 107 shows the numbers. In 2016, 5,000 meters are to be installed at a cost of $5.5 million plus $3.5 million to operate for 20 years, which equals $9 million. In 2017, another 5,000 meters (mostly in Sechelt) for another $9 million. A grand total of $18 million.
Measuring water is a critical responsibility for water system operations – how much falls from the sky into Chapman Lake, how much is used by humans, and how much nature needs. Good decisions need accurate numbers to openly measure benefits and costs. Your article and editorial of April 8 show that universal metering isn’t the universal answer. District of Squamish and Metro Vancouver both decided that universal metering is too expensive.
In 2011, Gibsons introduced utility bills based on consumption measured by water meters. By 2014, water use was down 20 per cent and is now stabilizing. The 2015 Gibsons Water Supply Report on page 10 says 24 per cent of water continues to be lost through unaccounted system leaks which costs Gibsons between $200,000 and $300,000 per year based on an annual water system cost of $1.2 million. (Note that universal metering did not prevent the June 2014 E.coli contamination.) And then in August 2015 Chapman water users averted a crisis by pulling together and reducing water consumption by 42 per cent. Clearly it is people who decide to save water. There are many tools in the water system toolkit and the responsible question is whether universal metering is the right way to spend $1 million per year.
Mark Hiltz, West Howe Sound
