Why do some people conserve water, while others do not? Take two people living on the same street. They have the same income, the same formal education, the same general background. Yet, one plants a drought-tolerant garden and waters sparingly, while the other rings his yard with cedars and waters twice a day. What gives?
To help homeowners conserve water and save energy costs, the City of Surrey has implemented a voluntary water metering incentive program. The public outreach program that outlined the benefits of metering over flat rate services was key to the City of Surrey making the switch to water metering.
Many of the early generation 6-litre toilet models sold in North America performed poorly and failed to meet consumer expectations for flushing performance. Yet virtually all of these models met all of the prevailing performance requirements to become certified. Water utilities were concerned over the negative customer feedback they were receiving regarding toilet fixtures that they had encouraged (through rebates) their customers to install. In response, 22 U.S. and Canadian utilities and other water interests, recognizing that toilet certification did not guarantee a high level of performance, sponsored the development of the independent Maximum Performance (MaP) Testing Program. This is now considered the de facto methodology for toilet performance testing throughout North America.
The primary purpose of the BC Rural Network’s (BCRN) website, is to provide information to organizations that serve a rural constituency, and to members of the public who want to know about BCRN's activities and issues of importance to rural and remote communities.
In 2004, the City of Williams Lake undertook a major review of its water utility and associated management practices. The resulting documents—the “Williams Lake Water Conservation Plan” and the “Waterworks Bylaw”—identify water management and water conservation strategies that will protect and preserve our valuable water resource well into the future.
The revised B.C. Water Conservation (Plumbing) Regulation, which took effect September 30th, 2005, requires that all new toilets installed in the areas specified below must be six-litre, low-consumption models.
The following hints will help both residents and growers assess their watering practices over the last growing season and consider improvements for next year.
A water bailiff was hired for the summer of 2005 to help enforce Peachland’s watering restrictions, and to gain a better understanding of how water is used by both residents and growers. This will help the district make sound water management decisions now and in the future.
The City of Salmon Arm’s WaterWise program manager, Eugene Lalonde, can now say with certainty that “residents favour wise water use.” Findings from in-home water audits conducted during the summer of 2005 show conclusively that residents are becoming more aware of the need for water-use efficiency, and are more prepared to take the necessary steps to achieve it.
During the summer of 2005, the City of Penticton’s Water Smart Ambassadors surveyed residents to determine their watering habits. They were thrilled to find that 99 percent of those surveyed agreed that water conservation is important, and that the majority of residents have adopted the City’s new watering restrictions.
