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“Many small water systems throughout British Columbia, particularly those on a surface water source, have no effective or minimum treatment in place, and have chosen to remain on a boil order, often for many years,” wrote Denny Ross-Smith. “I would urge all small systems in this position to begin planning now to take the steps necessary to comply with the Drinking Water Protection Act and Regulation.”

Eagle Lake commissioning – Mayor Pam & Ray Fung
The District of West Vancouver's Eagle Lake Development Plan recognizes that water is a valuable commodity. Developing the Eagle Lake water source will help the municipality manage increasing costs of treated water, reduce reliance on Metro Vancouver water, and increase the amount of water supplied by Eagle Lake.

White River First Nation story
Watermark Magazine – Winter 2008
This is the story of a project that is interesting because of the setting, climate and remoteness, and the unique challenges that these present.

Founded in 2003, the Small Water Users Association of B.C. is a non-profit society dedicated to serving the interests of small water systems (1-300 connections) throughout the province.

Many utilities face difficulties in raising rates to accommodate the costs associated with infrastructure renewal, enhanced security precautions, and other necessities. Contributing to this issue is a general under-appreciation of the value a utility provides to its community. At the core of this problem is the value of water. This value—the commodity itself and the service provided—must be communicated to customers and factored into utility decisions. But in order to do so, we must first understand the term.

The issue of lead in drinking water should be raised within the context of a holistic environmental approach that addresses all sources of lead exposure, especially for children.

Canadian municipal water utilities have had to face many difficulties in the past few years: increasing water treatment and processing costs, tighter fiscal constraints, changing regulations regarding water quality, and aging and rapidly deteriorating infrastructure. Not the least of these problems has been an erosion of consumer confidence in the reliability and safety of publicly supplied tap water.

Another 23 B.C. communities will see improvements to their drinking water and wastewater management systems as a result of almost $18 million in funding from the B.C. Ministry of Community Services.

Have you ever wondered where Revelstoke water comes from and where it goes after it’s been used? Revelstoke’s water comes from the Greeley watershed, which receives some of the highest snowfalls in North America. Located east of Revelstoke behind Mt. Mackenzie, the watershed covers almost 50 square km.

The Westbank Irrigation District (WID) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce construction of its Powers Creek Water Treatment Plant. It is expected that the total cost to complete the water treatment plant and treated water reservoir will be about $18 million. WID presently has reserves of about $8.5 million, which will be utilized to offset these construction costs. Earlier this year, ratepayers approved WID borrowing of up to $13 million.