Gregor Robertson wants to install water meters in Vancouver Houses

[Veng68]

Although it's probably for the better......... pay for use........... it's going to really suck for my house because of all the laundry we do.

I guess if the meters go in......... it time to get a front load washer and switch to DI water.

Thanks Gregor.

Cheers,
Vic

[muck]

Houses in Van don't currently have water meters installed?? Seriously?? :confused:

[sphelps]

I wouldn't worry about it, if anything you bill may go down. It's just to stop people from wasting and taking advantage, your RO and washing machine are minor compared to the guys watering their lawns like golf courses.

[Delphinus]

Vancouver isn't already on meters ??? I would not have guessed that.

Pay for usage isn't necessarily a bad thing. Generally speaking your costs shouldn't go up too tremendously. They may, as stated, go down. What it should do is encourage people who overwater their lawns or let a leaky toilet continue to leak without fixing the flapper to take a look at those sorts of things and be a little more proactive about not using so much.

I know a guy who is a perfect example of why mandatory water meters is a good thing. It may not be this way anymore in Calgary, I'm not sure, but there was a "grace period" when meters were first introduced in Calgary, where if a house was built before the new regulations, you could have a meter uninstalled and you could go back to flat rate. He had his taken out "so that he could water his lawn." He "prided himself on having the greenest grass on the block". Never mind that you don't need to be excessive about watering grass, 1/2" per week and it's as green as it's going to get - anything more and it just gets shallow roots and is in fact then an unhealthy lawn that dies easier.

[Veng68]

Private homes are not metered but new developments and commercial users are all on meters.

Private users pay a flat rate every year.

Cheers,
Vic

[JPotter]

We are in Vancouver and already are on a water meter. Pay quarterly for water consumption.

[Veng68]

We are in Vancouver and already are on a water meter. Pay quarterly for water consumption.

Hmmm...... I guess they have not gotten around to my neighbourhood yet. I still pay flat rates.

Cheers,
Vic

[Tom R]

I have lived in a Strata in Surrey for the last 6 years and we have been on a water meter since the project was built.

The advantage is that only the main water supply to a Strata is metered so any excess water usage that I may have with my 500G system is paid by my 73 neighbors.

Water conservation is quickly becoming a major issue and wasting water is something we should all be concerned with.

Tom R

[Snaz]

Water is life and there is less and less of it around that we can drink. Why anyone thinks a hunk of crystallized carbon is worth anything and then complains about paying for fresh water confounds me. I know no one here is complaining I'm just making a broad observation.

[RuGlu6]

Water is life and there is less and less of it around that we can drink. Why anyone thinks a hunk of crystallized carbon is worth anything and then complains about paying for fresh water confounds me. I know no one here is complaining I'm just making a broad observation.

x2

I agree crystallized carbon is worth about $50 a carat, the reat is a markup.

[new but handy]

Hey sphelps
not too many people in Van have to water their lawns:lol:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I've NEVER watered my lawn in Burnaby :redface::razz:

Water is for putting INTO aquariums, not wasting on grass that we then have to cut, IMHO.

[Veng68]

I do water my lawn but only on prescribed days and times. Gotta keep the grass healthy or those damn european chaffer beetle grubs start killing it and then the stupid crows start digging up the lawn.

I hate those grubs :(

Cheers,
Vic

[StirCrazy]

do they just want to add meter or actualy put them inside your house? I would be hesident about letting them put a water meter inside the house. maybe ask them for proof that there insurance will cover any water dammage due to anything they have installed or modifyed, and get it in writing.

so if the water meter springs a leak and floods your house.. the city picks up the tab, not your insurance.

we had meters in victoria but they were underground at the property line, I always assumed that everyone in BC was on meters untill I moved to kamloops, now there going to have a hard time to get me on to one. in some ways I think it is a good idea, and in some ways I think it is a bad one..

right now I pay a city utility fee twice a year that covers sewer, water, garbage, ect. the city sets the rates based on the actual operating costs.

with meters the water and sewer will be tied to actual usage, so if you waist a lot of water you should pay a little more, if you are semi water concious then you will pay less.

also after living in victoria for 20 years and not being able to have a nice lawn in the summer as the ground was to sandy and couldn't hold mositure, I want a nice lawn. now who ever said 1/2" a week is out to lunch. it takes 1" of water to penatrate 6 to 8" in loam soil and you want to get a penatration dept of 8" or more. the trick is deep waterings spread apart. twice a week. I find the sprinklers in my new house are set to go every second day, but I haven't figured out how much water yet, but my lawn sure looks nice.

So this way I would apposed to meters as I want to water my grass the optimal amount, but everywhere else I am water concious so I might even out

Steve

[workn2hard2day]

Campbell River just announced that metered water might be in our near future too. Now I really will have an excuse not to wash my vehicle :lol:

[mike31154]

I think water meters are a good thing. Just like any utility, you should be paying for actual use, or what you 'choose' to use. I lived in a condominium townhouse (that's strata for you BC folks) in Ottawa for 13 years and cost of water use was included in the condo/strata fees. Most of the buildings had from 5 to 7 units per building, but I was in a smaller one with a 3 unit building. All other utilities were pay per use but as mentioned the water bill was included in the condo fees, which of course kept going up year after year. In addition to water, the fees covered things like landscaping, winter snow removal, management company renumeration and of course contribution to the reserve fund. The reserve fund is there to pay for major maintenance such as roof replacement and any other maintenance to the exterior of the building. Essentially you owned the inside of your abode and anything exterior, including the exterior walls, belonged to the corporation. This can be good or bad, depending on the situation. Our corporation had a good handle on the financial situation and was able to replace all the windows and doors one summer without having to collect extra fees due to lack of planning.

Anyhow, back to the water thing. At one time there was talk of installing water meters in the corporation as well but it never got off the ground. Being single and using relatively lttle water, I was subsidizing the family of five or seven with their water use and was definitely in favour of metering and paying for actual use. One of my neighbours was out washing his car every second day. I couldn't believe it, the guy was pretty anal about his car and it wasn't even anything special, just a standard GM family ride. The plan was to install a meter in one unit of every block and one of the issues that eventually sunk the idea was who's going to read the meter since the city wasn't going to start reading individual meters in a condo corporation. I suspect another factor was the water wasters in the community were quite happy to have guys like me help foot their bill. I owned my unit, but the majority of them were rented and I imagine the landlords didn't much care since they could just pass increases in condo fees on to the tenants in the form of higher rent. The turn out at the annual condo meetings was always less than stellar often with barely enough participants (owners) to have a quorum for an official meeting. One of the things I promised myself is I would never ever live in another condo corporation or strata whatever we call it here in BC. Thankfully I was able to make that a reality when I moved to Vernon.

Water is a precious resource and we're spoiled here in Canada. Since moving to the relatively dry Okanagan, I've come to appreciate this a little more and there is certainly an increased awareness of that in this area.

[Tom R]

As I understand it the meters are on the outside of the building and either Hydro or Terasen reads them when they are around reading the Gas or Electricity usage.

In many areas they will become monitory in the near future.

They are being installed for free if you agree to put them in now.
All new construction require a water meter installation included in the water hookup.

If you have not elected to install a meter before they become mandatory then you will have to pay for the installation at that time.

As a matter of wasting water, you talk of the guy that washes his car every 2nd day, I have a neighbour who washes his car and then proceeds to wash down the driveway and street in front of his house every other day.

Tom R

[JPotter]

We are in Vancouver and have been on a meter for many years!..definitely not commercial and not a new development.

[sphelps]

Hey sphelps
not too many people in Van have to water their lawns:lol:
Hahaha, yeah I know. But you know what I'm getting at.

I think everyone should be on meters, it's a good thing and justifying it as a bad thing because you enjoy wasting water and not having to pay for it is just silly and irresponsible. The bottom line is the world is changing and people are starting to realize how fragile it is and how much we really rely on it yet we take things for granted. We all need to be more conscience of what we're using and that goes further than just water.

[Veng68]

We are in Vancouver and have been on a meter for many years!..definitely not commercial and not a new development.

Weird.......... my house is 40+ years old............ no meter.

Cheers,
Vic

[iansfishy]

somebody has to pay for the olympics!!! Oh to have a well! I wash my car sometimes just to give the pump a little workout! Im kidding hippies, its really a truck. Oh come on, the water comes out one end and right back to the well.

[cprowler]

In many areas they will become monitory in the near future.

They are being installed for free if you agree to put them in now.
All new construction require a water meter installation included in the water hookup.

If you have not elected to install a meter before they become mandatory then you will have to pay for the installation at that time.


This is exactly why we had one installed a few years ago.

[kien]

Ya, this is not the most environmentally sound hobby for sure.. Lots of wasted water, electricity, etc.. But then so is driving a car to work. Not everyone needs to but mostly everyone does for convenience. Again we have to pick our battles and compromises (if these sorts of things matter to you). I stopped watering the lawn 5 years ago. The front "lawn" just grows on rainwater and the backyard is planted with clovers which can thrive just fine in whatever limited water they get. I don't keep as Many house plants as I used to. Just a few choice orchids which don't actually need that much watering.

[StirCrazy]

As I understand it the meters are on the outside of the building and either Hydro or Terasen reads them when they are around reading the Gas or Electricity usage.



well they can't be on the wall of the house as they will freeze, so they have to dig a pit and install it, or they put them inside the house. the ones inside the house have a transmitter on them so a reciver truck just drives down the road and takes the readings. the cheeper one for the utility is to install it inside the house, then they don't have to dig. and for places like where I am, they would have to burry it 6 feet deep or more. I know if Victoria mine was about 1.5 foot deep.

Steve

[Tom R]

Yes it all starts with each and every one of us doing our little bit to help.

As my 5 year old granddaughter tells me.
Like turning off a light as we exit the room or pulling the plug on a battery charger when its not charging a battery.

There is a push right now to identify Power Vampires. Hydro estimates that there are on average 50 Power Vampires in most homes. They estimate that by eliminating them we could easily save 10% of our power usage or a good dinner out for you and the significant other once or twice a year.

I recently purchased a little devise from Canadian Tire

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/2/Electrical/ElectricalTesters/PRD~0528851P/Blue%2BPlanet%2BElectronic%2BEnergy%2BMeter.jsp

It estimates the usage and cost of energy consumed by an item over a period of time. I plugged it in on one of my 3 computers I have running 24/7 in my home and it estimated a power consumption in stand by mode of about $4.50 per month. Not much however I have 3.

My Hydro bill runs at about $165.00 per month and I am not about to give up my hobby, however I am certainly going to start by looking into these Power Vampires.

Within the hobby we can make more informed choices on the equipment we buy. Many of the pumps used today are just extreme power consumers. An example is that my main circulation pump is an Amp Master 3000 it uses about 95W per hour and moves approx. 3600 Gallons an hour with no head. Whereas a comparable Reeflo Dart uses 145W per hour to move approx the same amount of water.

We can still enjoy our hobby however the time has come to be smarter with what we are doing.

I guess I will now get down off my little soap box and get on with my day.

Tom R