Minto residents will hopefully be a little quicker to shut off the faucet in the next several years.
Town of Minto council members will consider shifting the municipality to a metered water and wastewater system. It means that instead of paying a flat rate for water, as is currently the case for many, users will now be charged according to how much water they use.
This is a good thing for two reasons: it puts everyone on the same playing field when it comes to water bills and it will act as a much-needed eye opener to those who continue to waste this most precious resource.
We have a healthy supply of the world’s freshwater here in Canada. It seems we take for granted that we always will.
Canadians are among the top water consumers in the world. It’s documented that residential consumers in Canada used 343 litres per person per day, or roughly twice as much per person as in other industrialized countries, with the exception of the United States and Australia. According to one source, water use in Montreal, where there is little metering, is particularly high at 1,287 litre per person per day in 1999.
We can’t even blame big business, either. According to the Environment Canada, the following sectors account for the following shares of municipal water use:
• 52 per cent residential users
• 19 per cent commercial users
• 16 per cent industrial users
• 13 per cent leakage
However, a different part of the same website of Environment Canada states that leakage losses are actually much higher at up to 30 per cent.
There are people in the world who don’t have enough water to wash their clothes, sanitation systems or even a drink of clean water at their disposal. Yet here we are, drenching our lawns, rinsing driveways and using leaky garden hoses as if the world’s water supply is endless. It isn’t. No one is saying don’t wash the car or water the flowers, but our wasteful ways must come to an end.
According to council’s plan, the metering system could  be gradually phased in until 2017, when the municipality should be fully metered. Now would be a good time to practice water conservation habits. Take these tips from Environment Canada for example:
• Install a low-flow faucet aerator.
• Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator rather than running tap water until it is cool enough to drink.
• When buying a new dishwasher, consider purchasing a water-saving model.
• Wash only full loads in the dishwasher.
• Check regularly for any leaks and fix them.
• Replace older, larger-use toilets with the newer ultra-low flush models.
• Do not use the toilet to dispose of paper, facial tissues or cigarettes.
• Take a five-minute shower and install a low-flow
showerhead.
• Turn the tap off while brushing your teeth or shaving.
• Using a running hose to wash your car can waste about 400 litres of water. Using a bucket with a sponge plus a trigger nozzle on the hose will save you about 300 of those litres.
• Collect rain water in an old barrel or other large container that is outfitted with a spigot and a suitable cover, and use the water on your garden. Use this water as an alternative to turning on the hose for newly transplanted material, window boxes, flowerpots and container gardens. Keep your rain barrel covered to prevent mosquitoes breeding and for safety reasons.
For more information, visit  www.on.ec.gc.ca/reseau/watertips_e.html
- S.B.