Meter Pilot Project Community Meeting May 22 2025
Meter Pilot Project Community Meeting Notes
May 22, 2025, 7pm at the Legion
Attendees: 19 public, and
Trustees: Ron Smith (Chair), Jane Waterman, John Colongard, Jennifer Moore, Gary Friars
Employees: Marianne Segers (Water Operator), Joseph Scott (Operations Coordinator), Sandra Haszard (Administrator, recorder)
Public-Meeting-Meter-Pilot-Project-Slideshow-May-22-2025Ron welcomed everyone to the meeting and stated how excited we are to be part of this project. The meeting will be kept informal; ask questions at any time.
This project was initiated by Provincial Government concern for water conservation, although VAIDs concerns are not exactly the same. The project benefits both, however.
Climate change has decreased snowpack & increased periods of reduced rainfall, especially southwest BC. Picture in Slide 2 is Sechelt reservoir – water shortage there caused some business to shut down.
Texada is not affected by snowpack. Lake level goes down in summer but is not a risk to our water security. VAID’s bottleneck is the water treatment plant capacity.
Water production has halved from February after several major leaks identified and repaired. These leaks were identified by a leak detection specialist contracted by VAID. Water production is still more than double the average Canadian rate per person.
Seasonal differences in Van Anda – summer and winter are about the same. Winter use is high due to folks running water to avoid freezing uninsulated lines. Spring and fall are less.
Q. Is this from people running water in the RV park?
A. RV Park uses less water after their meter billing started.
Q. is the Canadian average for rural or city?
A. Not specified.
VAID conservation planning:
- Find and repair leaks
- Move water intake
- Encourage water conservation
- Install water meters.
To encourage conservation, there are many suggestions on our website including how to deal with winter effects. Drip irrigation is never restricted and encouraged by VAID. We offer wholesale prices on drip irrigation parts; as well as heat tape for water lines, new toilets, rainwater tanks.
Previous study on universal metering showed it cost too much to implement.
Sandra (Administrator) applied for the grant with the Trustees’ backing, although no one expected it to be accepted. The funds are already in the bank and earning us interest as term deposits until needed. There is no cost to Van Anda.
Q. What about meter reading – extra labor?
A. Meters transmit data on cellular networks, so meter reading is not necessary.
Q. Who pays for repair of poor-quality pipes that are discovered during meter installation?
A. There is room in the budget for this.
Q. Where are the meters located?
A. Meters will be in a meter pit at the property line.
Q. There are many connections with unknown location – how will these be found?
A. following the water line from where it enters the house back to main with a metal detector and acoustic device. Many unknowns found already as we prepare for the project.
VAID is working with a team of experts, for planning, developing RFPs, billing, handling data, etc. Bulk purchasing with other project participants.
Q. What are the pros and cons of other communities who have installed meters?
A. Not aware of any cons; pros include decreasing water use and identifying leaks, which result in saving on treatment costs, and fairer billing.
BC has only 60% of water connections metered compared to nearly 100% in other provinces.
Q. Why start metering?
A. VAID has wanted to for several years because metering helps us save money and identify leaks.
Q. How will the customer cost be decided?
A. Water treatment expenses are divided by the volume of water treated.
Q. What are the expenses?
A. Electricity, filter cartridges, salt, chlorine, labor, maintenance parts.
Dummy billing will be in place for one year so customers can identify leaks and see how much they would pay, while still paying the flat Toll.
Q. I live on a dead end and need to run water before using it to keep it fresh, will that be charged?
A. Can be considered on a case-by-case basis. That area is planned to become part of a loop.
Q. Do the meter transmitters use the 5G network?
A. Unknown; will check. (added later – 4G and 5G for one product, LTE-M for another).
Information collected by the meters will be anonymized before sharing. We can also limit sharing and modification of shared information.
VAID already has the money; do not have to submit proof first. If it costs more than, VAID pays.
Q: Will VAID be installing the meters?
A. Some parts of the project will be contracted out using Request for Proposals.
VAID will keep the project transparent with community meeting informative web pages.
Budget will be added to the Meter Pilot Project web page.
Water supply is not the issue; infrastructure is the limitation.
The money cannot be used for anything other than meters though some line repair will be included during installation.
Q. Will the meters be accessible to the public?
A. Accessible to VAID employees and representatives only. Customers can see their personal use online.
Q. Will billing be minimum + overage, or exact?
A. To be decided.
Q. How will commercial connections be affected?
A. They are already metered.
Q. Can I use as much water as I want when metered, regardless of restrictions?
A. That depends on the restrictions in place.
Parcel Tax and Water Tolls were explained: Water Tolls are charged to property owners that have an active water service. Tolls are flat rate or metered, depending on water use. Metered rates are used for commercial properties and flat rates used for residences. Water Tolls cover the cost of water production (e.g. hydro, chlorine, salt, filters, labor) and will be replaced with Metered Rates. Parcel Taxes cover infrastructure costs (e.g. mains & water lines, leak detection & repair) and are charged to all owners of property within the Improvement District.
Q. If a property has had Parcel Taxes paid, they should be able to get a water connection.
A. Yes. (The following discussion was about a potential development that was not followed through by the developer; not relevant to this meeting and so not included here.)
There will be public outreach through the project.
Planning involves KWL and Econics for assistance with purchasing, RFPs, software, etc.
Project starting slightly late due to government delays.
Q. Will there be GST on the bill?
A. VAID does not charge GST.
VAID will continue billing owners for water; it will not switch to the Provincial Government.
Q. Will there be help for low-income people who have leaks?
A. Will consider on a case-by-case basis.
If the community wants a referendum, someone can organize this.
Q. Can you provide an estimated customer cost in 3-6 months?
A. Need more information that metering will provide during dummy billing period. Cannot compare the cost to other communities.
Comment: Meter billing is fairer. Many places have switched to meter billing.
Webpage for Meter Pilot Program shown with brief description.
